Lukaku all day long. Griezman is a very good player, but he's not a lone striker, he's to small and weak to play as the striker in the system we use. So unless we change the system we use, and go with a 2 upfront I don't think Griezman is the player we need. With Ibra now out injured, Lukaku seems the ideal replacement, and as much as I have respect for Ibra I think Lukaku offers more, as he's a lot younger and more mobile than Ibra. He can run in behind, and he can hold the ball up and bully defenders. Not sure he would want to join us though, considering Mourinho was the one who didn't show faith in him as a youngster, and sold him to Everton.
Griezmann. Suggesting Lukaku does fly in the face of everyone's recent assertion that Rashford is the future No.9 so why buy a direct rival to him? After all, we no longer need Ibrahimovic now he's injured so we don't need to replace him, right? Griezmann on the other hand replaces Rooney and provides goals from an alternative position to centre forward. I actually think Rashford will, given the chance, prove to be a far superior player to Lukaku. We've also then got Martial who can play at 9 as an alternative.
It's not just about the player. It's the manager as well. Rashford has huge potential and I have no doubt Mourinho will show faith in the boy and give him his chance, BUT is Jose capable as a coach of helping him realise his full potential? If this was Fergie I'd be completely confident that if Rashford had the potential to be our next great CF, then Fergie would get him there. I'm not so sure Mourinho can. Don't get me wrong, he'll give Rashford plenty of games and ensure he is managed properly as a 19 year old. BUT can he develop his game? Or more appropriately can Rui Faria??? That's the question mark for me. As for Greizmann or Lukaku... I wouldnt have either IF it was going to harm Rashford's chances in any way. We don't need anyone in that position do we? And we have plenty of options in the AM or No 10 role - Mata, Herrera, Mkhytarian. What we need is a RB and at least 1 CB. Talking of which, special mention to Rojo at CB this season. Without doubt our most underrated player this season. **** as LB but he's been immense at CB and gone largely unnoticed.
Yeah but it's Griezmann and agents and twitter and....and other stuff. I am desperate for the season to end so the rumour mill can really crank up
According to Cadena Ser, We've made a very good offer for him and Jose Mourinho has contacted him about joining us as well.
If I might be allowed to address this, I think we do need a player in this position, yes. Both Rooney and Ibra will leave. Whether we like this or not, Zlatan has scored the vast majority of our goals this season so those goals need to be replaced. What we'd like to happen are irrelevant, the fact is that Rashford, Martial, Mhkitaryan, Herrera and Pogba have not scored enough goals so, unless they become suddenly prolific between now and the end of the season, Jose will know this and look to address it. Ideally Rashford gets four or more goals and Jose sees him as Zlatan's replacement. We will still need goals from elsewhere though and Griezmann is an ideal, prolific, replacement for Rooney. We only need that one forward though, to supplement, Martial, Rashford, Mata, Young and Lingard and Mhki, but we still very much need him. We then need a centre half or two, or a centre half and a right back, and we'd be good to go.
Agree wholeheartedly on this. I don't see Herrera as a number 10, and Mkhi seems to do better out wide cutting in that being stuck in the middle. Mata is an option, and a good one, but not prolific enough to make the role his own. Herrera holding, Pogba and Griezmann as advanced midfielders with Griezmann pushing into the hole, then Mkhi, Martial, Rashford in the wide attacking and striker positions would be outstanding next season. Mata, Fellaini, Lingard and Carrick as options from the bench, or in rotation depending on the opponents, gives us plenty of options as well. With Zlatan and Rooney probably gone, Griezmann would only help develop Martial and Rashford through a consistent supply line, rather than hold them back. Obviously none of that takes away from the need to strengthen at the back.
The trouble is Griezmann will inevitably mean losing one of those very players. I don't want to sacrifice Mata, Herrera, Mkhytarian or tbf even Pogba seeing as he deserves to be given time. Those players should gel that little bit more with another season and without Zlatan stifling play, as well as the pace of Rashford, Martial and possibly Lingard, they will be more prolific in terms of goals. Otherwise we might as well get rid of them now. Griezmann is a nice idea but it's about our style of play rather than another big purchase that will dictate how well we create goals. I've felt the priority has been a CB and RB for a long time. If we accept there's a certain ethos to Jose's style of play, then if we're not scoring we need to have a solid defence to win games 1-0 instead of the ridiculous amount we've been drawing.
No it won't. Everyone thought adding Mkhi would mean losing Mata but it didn't. Last summer we added Pogba, Mkhi and Zlatan and all we lost were Depay, Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger. So if we are losing Rooney and Zlatan this summer, who have appeared in almost 80 games between them, there is plenty of room for a replacement. More so if we sell Fellaini too. We have a decent squad, but it's not like we are overloaded for options - the last few weeks have shown us we need more quality players if we are going to be competing for multiple trophies again, particularly if we aspire to more than the Europa League.
Griezmann is a direct replacement for Rooney - a hardworking forward that can play in any position. Would be a excellent signing as with Rashford and Martial on the wings, you will have 3 forwards that switch and play in each other's position a la Rooney/Ronaldo/Tevez.
You could be right. But I feel we lost Rashford and Martial as a result of Zlatan and other players. If we bring in Griezmann and want to keep Rashford and Martial on the pitch we will lose somebody else e.g. Mata or Herrera. I guess I just don't like the idea of season after season trying to buy these big name quick fixes. I wonder whether that's been part of the problem over the last 3/4 years and stopped any cohesion in the side from developing. We look disjointed at time especially dare I say in that final third. A big part of the problem has been our style of play coupled with Zlatan slowing it down and being too one dimensional at times. I would just like the likes of Rashforf and Martial and Shaw and Lingard etc to be given a chance WITH the rest of that attacking midfield behind them. If we have Rashford up front with Martial on the left and lets say Mkhy on the right. That leaves Mata behind in the number 10 or Herrera or even Pogba. In fact we can have different combinations of those as a front 4 including Mkhy as 10 and Mata or Lingard on the right of that. There are so many options. It seems to me these days everytime we don't do well enough it's a case of 'lets buy another big name player' rather than let this side develop with our youth.
I would hate to see Rashford on the wing tbh. I remember Rooney/Ronaldo/Tevez. And I would've given my right nut to have Saha there instead of Tevez tbh. But he was injured. Hence why for me Rashford or even Martial up front in that number 9.
Of course, there may be plenty of other names on JM's wish list for the summer particularly now there is uncertainty as to whether Ibra will be fit enough to play in the foreseeable future, but for me Griezmann is by far the better choice of the two names being discussed here. Listening to folk there is little chance he will go to Real Madrid, the inter-club rivalry is just too great - it might happen a few years down the line as is rumoured for De Gea, but unlikely this time around. He started out on the wing and Simeone only brought him in as a striker when Costa left for Chelsea, so he is a very versatile option and would allow JM to play a very fluid attacking formation involving Rashford, Martial and Griezmann. Bar talk here is about Barca keeping a close eye on Herrera - best we make him captain and give him a payrise.
Herrera as captain doesn't seem a good fit at all considering his temperament and isn't really a leader on the pitch from what I've seen of him. You don't really have any big personalities at the club aside from Zlatan - you are missing someone that either inspires or gives players a smack when things aren't going well which is why Fellani got the captaincy that one time. TBH Herrera leaving wouldn't really be a big loss to you imo - you are linked with the likes of Kroos if you want like for like or a pure DM like Bakayoko who can do all of the defensive duties releasing Pogba.
Disagree about him leaving. He would be a big loss. We can't keep chopping and changing that midfield. Herrera has been one constant in the side this season. Glazerfodder talks about Griezmann being a versatile player, well so is Herrera. Surprisingly under Van Gaal he had far more strings to his bow. He's not just a DM and should be given a bit more freedom to go forward. He's better at it than Pogba from what I've seen of both players. People forget Herrera IS a playmaker. He has vision and passing as well as the ability to play deep and defend. I would be gutted if we sell him.
