http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,20876_6939642,00.html it's going to be an exciting summer..but apart from the obvious replacement we need for van der saar, it'll be interesting to see where fergie thinks we really need strengthening. for me, there isn't really any stand out position that we're in dire need of bringing players in. defensively, we're spot on. both rafael and fabio have showed they are good enough for RB, and with o'shea being able to play anywhere across defense we're pretty well covered. smalling has been absolutely outstanding, and evans is decent back up. midfield is probably the place where the bulk of changes will come. but i don't think we need whole sale changes, rather a little bit more faith in what we already have. namely, anderson. in every game since new year with the exception of arsenal away, he has been very, very good and has put in a few motm performances along the way. his passing at times is sublime, he has a strength and speed that our other midfielders don't have, and he can run with it in midfield! he'll need to be one of the first players on the team sheet next season if we're to see the best of him. a hargreaves replacement is a must. i think we also need a left winger. nani has had a great season (mostly on the right) and congrats on winning player of the year last night....but a left footer on the left wing will give us a better balance to play with. strikers we're in good nick. rooney and hernandez look like making an incredible partnership. if berbatov stays, then owen can be let go with welbeck coming back from a very good spell at sunderland. macheda will also be back, as will diouf, but i think he'll not play much of a part. so 3 players...a goalkeeper, replacement for hargreaves (tiote?) and a left winger. i'm not convinced we need someone like sneijder when we have young players who have the ability to step up.
It is a shame that most people spend more time on the chat box, rather than debating. But, I have to agree with you in every way. With Valencia and Nani and Park we have 3 very good wingers but mostly right wingers. We need a left winger but who? I have heard rumors about Young but he is right footed. I would rather us get a left footed winger and maybe Douglas Costa? We were very interested in him around 09 time. As for Midfielders, Scholes normally signs his contract extensions around April but we are now mid May. I have a feeling he may retire and if he does we should respect his decision, he is a great player but it looks like he will leave. It will be sad to see another legend retire but this is the name of the game. It is not like we don't have players with the winning mentality . Players like Rooney, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher have 4 titles and players like Nani and Anderson have 3 titles etc. However, who would be the replacement? I am not entirely sure Wesley S would fit our system. You would think with such a great player maybe retiring, we may look for a top talent but surly Anderson, Cleverly, Pogba, Morrison, Tunclife need chances. Anderson has been hailed as our next quality central midfielder and he really has progressed. His home form has been top class but his away form has been poor but tbh so has most of our players. Our fans should be patient. However, we will sign a midfielder and maybe that will be De Rossi. I would love to see Modric but I can't see that happening. As for keeper, in logical sense we would have been sighting an experienced goalkeeper to minimize the risks. I am talking about Martin Sketlenburg here but I have a feeling we may get De Gea. Just a feeling
Ashley Young is right footed but has played on the left for Villa for most of the season. He seems quite comfortable cutting in from the left and delivering inswinging crosses, which Chicharito would just lap up. And he can also play second striker, which would give us more backup / options in attack if Owen leaves. De Rossi could be the ideal Hargreaves replacement as he could play as a holding player alongside Anderson, Giggs or Cleverley in the PL, and as a box to box midfielder alongside Fletcher or Carrick to give us more defensive solidity in Europe or away from home against top teams in the PL. Or we may go for Rodwell for the same role, as he's younger and would be easier to train up and fit in the side. But is showing signs of being a crock, so maybe not. But if we only sign a defensive midfielder then we could again find ourselves short of creativity in midfield. Anderson is good, but has proven to be very injury prone and if we rely on him next season we may find ourselves short in the centre again. I'd rather have someone like Costa or Defour as another option in there. Alternatively, Eden Hazard has said he wants to leave Lille, and can play on both the left wing and in the centre, so he could be a good option. Defensively, it looks like we're going to land Raphael Varane, which is good as he's young and will give us cover for Rio in case he gets injured against next season. I do change my mind about this a lot, but right now I think a good set of signings would be: Steklenberg / de Gea - ã18 mill Varane - ã8 mill Hazard / Young - ã20 mill Rodwell / De Rossi - ã20 mill For a total of around ã66 mill. That's a lot, which implies that as SAF says we're likely to only end up with three players. But if we make some back from selling Kusczak, Brown, Obertan, and maybe Gibson it shouldn't break the bank.
i'm not convinced by nani playing on the left. i think he's wasted out there. but i also think valencia is the better player on the right. he's not quite as unpredictable as nani, but that has it's good side too. since the new year, nani has been unpredictable to the point that even his team mates dont know what hes going to do. i also can't remember anyone given ashley cole such a hard time as valencia did at old trafford. i agree with valencia25, im not sure sneijder would really suit us. fantastic player, but if we're playing 2 in midfield, i'd rather we have someone with a bit of energy in there, which is why i think anderson can be such a big player. hes strong, very quick, good passer and can carry it in midfield. de rossi would be a hell of a signing. as would eden hazard even though he like young and nani is predominately right footed...there seems to be a shortage of left footed wingers nowadays? not convinced about rodwell. decent young player, but i'd rather give someone from within the club already a chance before going for him you could probably pick stekelenberg up for 10 million swarbs, and young would be a lot cheaper too seeing as he's only got 12 months on his contract left
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/18/manchester-united-raphael-varane-lens Ever heard of this guy?
I think both players have their strengths - Valencia is better at just going one on one with his fullback out wide, whilst Nani is better at cutting inside to shoot or create something in the centre. I think Valencia is better against bigger teams, where it comes down to one on one battles, whereas Nani is better against the weaker teams who just sit back and defend deep and need some flair to open them up. Predominantly right footed? You could've fooled me! I think he's pretty much ambidextrous, which is a great asset for a modern winger cos the full back has no weaker side to try and turn him on to. Maybe, but I reckon other clubs will bid the price up for him. I was using ã18 mill as roughly a max figure. Haven't seen that much of him, but from what I've seen he looks like a younger version of Rio. Good positioning, strong in the air and good on the ball but without the concentration problems Rio had when he was younger. If we buy him I'd expect him to be 3rd choice CB next year behind Vidic and Smalling / Rio with Rio playing in the bigger games. Varane should get 15-20 games with a view to stepping up once Rio retires.
Who cares? No, in all seriousness, I see Evans basically doing the job that Wes Brown has done for years -filling in gaps.
Verane is a very talented player who can also play the holding role. He would cost us around 8-10m and that deal seems near completion. It seems also that Utd really want to get De Gea and that deal is also near completion. We were always going to buy a defender with Brown likely leaving. Evans will fill the role of Brown and it seems we are youthening up our team. I expect further signings and possibly a midfielder and a young winger like Hazard or Costa. Also I would like to add, EBITDA looks set to be around ã110m-ã112.5m on total revenue of ã325m-ã330m. So you're looking at 10% year EBITDA growth and total revenue growth of 15m. Interest for the season has been paid off total of ã47m) at this stage so take that from EBITDA, sort out taxes, amortisation and ignore depreciation from which the club should come out with ã50m extra in the bank for the year. Add that to the ã113m we have around 163m in the bank. Andersred backs this statement up by saying "the ã113m will rise sharply from now to the end of June". I can't see how anyone can say we don't have money when we clearly do have money 163m soon to be in worth of cash.
Exactly the same as now - playing 15-20 games a season. Varane will basically replace Brown, and I'd expect Rio to play a few less games next season with Smalling having emerged this year. Evans has shown he's a solid backup, but I don't think he's ready to break into the first team yet. If we sign Varane and let Brown go, next season I'd expect Vidic to play 40+ games, Smalling to play 30+, Rio to play around 20 and the other two to play 15-20 each. We played 67 games this season including friendlies, so there's plenty of footy to go around particularly given how many defensive injuries we've had over the last two season! And Varane can play DM and Evans has played at FB a few times this season, so the two of them would definitely still get games.
Yeah, seems we have targeted our men, and are looking to get the deals done quite quickly, which is a good sign. I'm still undecided, personally, between Stekelenburg and De Gea. But it is looking more likely to be De Gea as each day passes. What will be unusual this summer is the sheer number of outgoings, there could be up to five or six players leaving this summer. So we will definately need to do some replacing. Like you say, a winger and a midfielder (De Rossi -ã14 mil?) Also worth remembering Cleverley and Welbeck will most-likely be back.
Yep I can see, Welbeck, Cleverly, De Gea, a winger, a experienced midfielder, all coming in. Outs: Hargo, Owen, VDS, Kut, Brown and maybe Scholes retiring but I can see Gibson staying unless he demands to leave to. It would be a travesty if Hargo stayed on. He needs to be replaced and I would like another midfielder to leave. We need to make spaces for new blood because we can't keep on carrying midfielders. I know Ferguson wants to keep Scholes but I feel we should just let him retire.
Yeah it's about time Scholes retired now. He's done well to still keep up with this campaign, but in all honesty he isn't as fit to carry on as Giggs. However, with all these guys leaving, in a weird way players like Gibson will be important to keep. With about 4 (youngish/ inexperienced) players coming in, plus Welbeck and Cleverley -players like Gibson, who already know the ropes will be good for the squad. It will help to continue things on from this season. Otherwise we will be in a position where 4 new guys are all chucked into the first team and expected to gel. And without VDS, Scholes, Neville there, players like Gibson will actually be some-what senior. I don't really see the issue with having a few guys like Gibson who can play in games like Vs Marseille, where you just need to rest players. It's the likes of Obertan and Bebe who need to be loaned out quick
I have no idea what ambidextrous means but he certainly can use his right foot as well as his left foot.
Next season Nani and Valencia will be the first choice wingers but at Utd there is a lot of rotation but in all honesty those 2 could be great for us. With Nani you would think he would make a great left winger. He has pace, skill, a great left and right foot. But maybe its confidence?
Nani and Valencia for me both should be first on the team sheets next season. I just don't see the logic in dropping Nani who has contributed 20 assists and 10 goals in one season yet his form dropped around 2 months ago. He will get better as a player and more consistent and with this reward I feel he will now feel more appreciated and accepted. When he plays he always plays to make a point and I feel he just needs to relax. The players obviously feel he is a top player and a key member of the team and he is very creative. Valencia is a class player and a unique player, his playing style is very simple but effective and he is a key member. Park is a quality player to but he is hitting 30 and I feel we should really start playing with our 2 best wingers.
