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The old Man Utd Thread

ThePixelbarks

By ThePixelbarks
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Liamness

Liamness

Posted
Posted

Would an interesting possibility be letting Berbatov roam much more? Maybe in a similar role to that Sneijder plays for his club and country. He's evidently a massively creative player, perhaps we could let him off on the goals front and let him concentrate on unlocking defences? I think Giggs or Park could easily perform in that role too, with Fletch, Scholes and Anderson (and hopefully a new signing) being more typical central midfielders. We could adopt this now-ubiquitous formation then;

               CF

      LF                 RF

            AM/SS

LWB     CM  CM       RWB

            CB  CB

              GK

It's a very versatile formation, which can variously seem like a 4-4-2, a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1, depending on the individuals in the team and how they're set up. We spent a lot of time last season switching between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3, but I think this time around we'd be wise to just stick with this, and just change the emphasis as needed from game to game. We could have just four players going all-out on the attack, or anything up to seven if needed. I think we've got plenty of cover in each position too, except maybe CM (which becomes DM in the biggest games), and there is the looming question about VDS's replacement, but that does not need answering this summer.

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BigShimmeryWall

BigShimmeryWall

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That's part of why I like him. Proper silly goalie hair.

guillermo20ochoa20590cm3.jpg

He's really good and the only Mexican ever to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or. He's been playing first team football at Club America since he was 17 so he's got a decent amount of experience alrealy and he's said that he wants to come to Europe. We were heavily linked with him back in 2007 but obviously we had VDS with a couple of years left at that time but with Foster and Kuszczak as backup, and presumably higher hopes for Foster. As much as I like big Tommo as a stand in, I don't see him as a long term #1.

Obviously YouTube isn't the best way to show players off but I don't imagine many of you follow Mexican football, because y'know, it's Mexican football. :coffee:

[yt]wHolIsV0ZGg[/yt]

Part of that video will appeal hugely to fatbob, but I'm not going to say what, as it'll ruin the surprise.

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fatbob

fatbob

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Posted
That's part of why I like him. Proper silly goalie hair.

guillermo20ochoa20590cm3.jpg

He's really good and the only Mexican ever to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or. He's been playing first team football at Club America since he was 17 so he's got a decent amount of experience alrealy and he's said that he wants to come to Europe. We were heavily linked with him back in 2007 but obviously we had VDS with a couple of years left at that time but with Foster and Kuszczak as backup, and presumably higher hopes for Foster. As much as I like big Tommo as a stand in, I don't see him as a long term #1.

Obviously YouTube isn't the best way to show players off but I don't imagine many of you follow Mexican football, because y'know, it's Mexican football. :D

[yt]wHolIsV0ZGg[/yt]

Part of that video will appear hugely to fatbob, but I'm not going to say what, as it'll ruin the surprise.

:coffee:

*Does the Rasmus sway*

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bowser123

bowser123

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Posted

So that's Joe Cole and Silva sold, both who'd have been great at the club, seemingly without the club trying to sign either of them.

Villa would have been a steal too, but I think he'd have chosen Barca over us, so maybe that's moot.

So, yeah, the first two. Why didn't the club sign them? Throw in Sneidjer last year too and there's three players who'd have fit right in and not cost the earth.

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fatbob

fatbob

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So that's Joe Cole and Silva sold, both who'd have been great at the club, seemingly without the club trying to sign either of them.

Villa would have been a steal too, but I think he'd have chosen Barca over us, so maybe that's moot.

So, yeah, the first two. Why didn't the club sign them? Throw in Sneidjer last year too and there's three players who'd have fit right in and not cost the earth.

Because we're broke?

That or we're saving our money for Ozil, Schweinsteiger and Lahm?*

*might be a lie

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bowser123

bowser123

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Villa may be oldish and no resale, but he'll guarantee you goals. I never realised he was so effective at cutting in from out wide until the World Cup too, I thought he was an out and out poacher like Ruud or something. I'd say he was worth the cash for the goals alone, throw in how well he'd fit into our 4-3-3/ 4-5-1 coming in from wide and I think he's a steal.

Silva, maybe not as good value at what, 24M? That said I think he's a fuck load better than any of the other midfielders we've spent close to 20M on each. In the grand scheme it's not an astronomical amount.

Fatbob, we can't be broke, Judas Gill and the manager say so. Still got the Ronaldo money, 92M on the balance sheet etc, etc etc.

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fatbob

fatbob

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This isn't the answer (yet) to the ever widening holes in our squad I know but, on the plus side:

Berbatov was really really good the other night, Smalling looked pretty good too, and like a natural Rio replacement in training (mistake on penalty aside), Diouf, the twins, Evans, Wellbeck and Kiko all looked grand too. Cleverly, i actually think might stick around the squad too rather than be one of the myriad of academy sell-ons.

We need Nani and Hernadez to have great seasons and it will look positive on the youth from.

HOWEVER

We still need a proper replacements for Giggs and Scholes, even Hargreaves, oh and VDS and probably a right back with pedigree....

We may manage a year without addressing those needs and relying on the kids, but if we have to replace them all next summer then i'm not sure that will be ideal really.... especially if you want value in the market.

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bowser123

bowser123

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Goals aside, I'm not sure what Gibson offers. I'm of the opinion that a fair few of his goals came from the opposition failing to close him down, which maybe was down to the opposition not knowing anything about him. Maybe next year they will close him down as they know about his shot, resulting in him offering little. I'd much rather the club play Cleverly than him.

Nani, fingers crossed he continues his 2010 form. I still think he's a greedy dick head at times and far too big headed, plus I hate his rolling around, but he's shown form. The other guys you said... I'm really dubious. Don't think Diouf or Macheda are good enough. The former is shit, the latter too slow and limited. The Mexican? I'd be astounded if he could walk in and be the answer from day one.

I like Berbatov, think he's quality. That said I don't think he suits us. We have no goals from midfield, so it's heavily reliant on Rooney again. Who in turn is reliant on Valencia and Nani maintaining form. Don't think we've done anything to rectify the massive flaw that's been there since Ronaldo went, in that we don't score enough especially from midfield. By ignoring Sneidjer, Cole and Silva, probably won't sort it either.

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phresh

phresh

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Goals aside, I'm not sure what Gibson offers. I'm of the opinion that a fair few of his goals came from the opposition failing to close him down, which maybe was down to the opposition not knowing anything about him. Maybe next year they will close him down as they know about his shot, resulting in him offering little. I'd much rather the club play Cleverly than him.

Me too, although Gibson has scored goals from midfield for years, it's not so much a fluke just that he does have an excellent shot from range.

By ignoring Sneidjer, Cole and Silva, probably won't sort it either.

The problem with Cole and Silva is that they quite probably wouldn't have started the season as first choice and that makes their wages prohibitive and both would probably want guaranteed first team football anyway. Berbatov is ahead of them in a 4-4-2 and i'm not really convinced they could play in a 3 man midfield. I still think we'll sign a central midfielder of some kind although who I don't know. Personally I wouldn't mind Van de Vaart.

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bowser123

bowser123

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Me too, although Gibson has scored goals from midfield for years, it's not so much a fluke just that he does have an excellent shot from range.

Yeah, maybe I'm being a bit mean as I don't like him. He clearly has a shot on him, I'm just not sure he's going to be shown so much space.

Recap of his goals, please do tell if I've missed any.

- beauty against Hull I think, last day of the season.

- two against Spurs in the cup

- the last goal in big, 3 and 4 nil wins over WHU and Bolton.

- that one against Munich at OT.

I think the Munuch one wasn't a good shot, the keeper messed up. Where they unaware who he was and not expecting a shot? He was certainly a shock choice. The first three I think could come down to not knowing about him. The other two? Again I'm being mean, but late goals in big wins against demoralised teams don't really impress.

I'm only really going off limited youth performances, then bits of late night BBC stuff about Cleverly, but I think he's a better shout even if he doesn't have the experience Gibson does.

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phresh

phresh

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I completely agree on Cleverly, he's got more of a Scholes vibe about him, nice on the ball and with a decent pass. Can strike it well too, he got a few decent ones for Watford. Gibson is a bit limited (I think hel'll have one more season at United) but he often comes from deep which makes picking him up quite difficult.

Is the game on Wednesday another midnight kick off? I quite enjoyed Fridays game but not convinced I can do it on a work night!

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Ryan

Ryan

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I completely agree on Cleverly, he's got more of a Scholes vibe about him, nice on the ball and with a decent pass. Can strike it well too, he got a few decent ones for Watford. Gibson is a bit limited (I think hel'll have one more season at United) but he often comes from deep which makes picking him up quite difficult.

So he's like a shit version of Franny Lampard when he was younger?

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