Sir Alex Ferguson is considering one of the most unexpected transfer moves of his 24-year tenure as Manchester United manager - a bid for Joey Barton. Full story: Sunday Times (subscription required)
Pedestrian is definately a word that I'd associate with our midfield, especially the 1st half of the season. But our midfield was much, much better in the 2nd half- same players non? Maybe not a change in system, but we were playing combinations that complimented each other. If we did get in a new CM, it would be good, but I don't think it needs to be as drastic as some people make out.
This Fletcher still managed to get two goals and seven assists last season despite being half crocked with the virus. If he gets back to full fitness next year I expect our midfield to be him plus A.N. Other. P.S. "We are always looking for good quality players...We are not looking at the moment but we are looking at combinations of central midfielders now at the club." That to me implies "if the current central midfielders don't step up on the tour then we will still be in the market for a new one.
Fletcher is a good player, a squad player, but he is far from top class.For me he plays best in our European 451 formation as he doesnt have the discipline to do Carricks job nor the technique to do Scholesys, for me he is the battler in between. Can we afford to rely on Anderson, Giggs and Morrisson as our creative spark?There are question marks over all three but how far down the list will Anderson and Morrisson fall if we do bring in a Sniejder type player?
I've just had an interesting thought. What about Park in the "Sneijder" role? Everyone seems to be hung up on the fact we need some creative spark (we don't, but anyway), but Park has played centrally before, has shown hundreds of times how well he combines with all of our players and is a remarkably fantastic finisher. Not to mention he has the defensive discipline that (granted I'm assuming this) Wesley doesn't have. The only bad mark against him is that he isn't particularly powerful, but neither is Sneijder really, you wouldn't expect the Dutchman to challenge central defenders for flick ons.
In my opinion a fully fit Fletcher is far more than a squad player, and it's nothing to do with lack of discipline to play the Carrick role and everything to do with the fact Fletcher's game is not about just sitting there, he's a box to box player (and he's a lot more technical than people seem to give him credit for) and if you make him sit you lose a lot of what Fletcher brings to a team, just like when Chelsea play Essien as the holding player, yes he can do it but when he's allowed to burst forward is when he's so much more effective.
The lack of discipline comment was not a criticism, just pointing out that he is not suited to that particular role, which is a problem when we want to play 442 as one of the two central midfielders needs to sit and the Carrick/Fletcher partnership does not work very well IMO, while Carrick could be used as playmaker or defensive screen, Fletcher doesnt excel at either.
fletcher and anderson are the only ones we should be thinking of as long-term CMs for us. cleverly-not good enough giggs-1 season at most left carrick-not good enough gibson-ick jones-a defender i think we actually need 2 more CMs to solve the problem,but ide be surprised if we even get 1.
I am very sad to here this news but I knew it was inevitable. I was hoping I would be wrong but Ferguson has a lot of faith in this midfield. I don't know why but he does, however, he does know best. But I don't believe Cleverly is good enough and has Fletcher had his best years? Even when he was fit he was poor in my opinion. Carrick is improving but is he good enough? Anderson who I like just seems to never be picked in the big games. Can this continue? In my opinion with this midfield we will need Rooney to drop back much more as we simply lack creation and Nani will have to start most games as he is our main creative force. He has good passing and is clever and we lack that in our team. Valencia simply is not creative enough in the middle of the park and Nani drops into the middle a lot to create. I know it is Square pegs in circle holes but that is the situation we are in. If we had a top class midfield, Valencia would do better but we don't.
Definitely an option, he played very well there for S Korea and his chances of playing on the wings have been reduced with Youngs arrival.
Nani holds onto the ball way too long to be relied on as our main creative force. He usually does well to beat a man with a little trick but then always seems to feel the need to stop, wait and try beating him again and again often ending in him losing the ball or having to rush a cross under heavy pressure instead of just making good use of the yard he created in the first place, either that or he he'll hit a speculative shot from 30 yards, most of which end up wide or over the bar, when there is better options around him. That's why I think Valencia and young will be our first choice more often than not, Valencia may not have the bag of tricks Nani has but he and Young both play the early ball whenever they make half a yard of space, and that early ball is something Chicharito seems to love. If only Nani could improve his decision making he could easily be a key player for years to come.
He is a key player for us. If the leading assister in the league and our team is not a key member of the squad, then something is wrong. I am sorry but if Nani does not play a major role next season we won't win the league. Nani was key to us winning the league last season hence his players player of the year award. With Valencia we are far to static as a team. The likes of City, Chelsea are going to buy some class players. Pastore and Aguero to name a few. With Young and Nani we have 2 players who can switch wings at will and give us another dimension. Name me one top team with a static winger/forward like Valencia? Sorry but the modern game demands versatility, time to move with the times. Valencia will play a important role but if he is to play a major role with Nani on the bench watching then we will be shown up badly. We need as many creative players as possible and Valencia is not creative by any stretch of the imagination. I like Valencia, nice guy and all that and does things simply but a top winger should be 2 footed and able to beat a player with skill and drift around. That is what makes a top winger. Valencia can't cross with his left foot and can't shoot with his left foot. He can't drift inwards either as he is ineffective there. He is a good player but he is far too limited and won't improve that much. His game is all about pace and strength. Nani has more to improve on but I can see him having another great season and he will win his place in the team. Our key forwards next season will be Nani, Young and Rooney and they will play the majority of the games. Next season I would like to see a team of ..................Hernandez ..........Rooney ( Kind of Free role) Young Anderson Carrick Nani Evra....Vidic....Rio/Smalling...Rafa .................De Gea
You always throw out his assists stat to back up your love for Nani, maybe we should talk more about the sheer number of off target shots he has, he doubled the amount of total shots that the likes of Malouda and Young had last season yet they all hit around the same number of shots on target, and both of those two had a better crossing accuracy than Nani, even Jarvis had better crossing accuracy stats than Nani. Where Nani was head and shoulders above the rest is his dribbling, but what use is beating a man if you waste the follow up? Like I said before, if only he could improve his decision making he has the ability to be a key player for years to come.
I am sorry but Nani creates chances and a lot, might not set up every single one but he creates many. Valencia does not create many chances, how many assists do you want Nani to have? 40? He creates far more chances than Valencia ever will. He will only get better and the fact he got players player of the year tells you he is a very, very valid team member. The players know who is their key members and Nani is that. I am sorry but Nani is one of our best players and by far the most creative. He may not assist or give a great ball every time he has the chance to but he gets into those positions far more times than Valencia does. Valencia can go into a game only putting 1 or 2 crosses in. He may have a better ratio of them getting converted but he will get less assists compared to Nani as Nani gets into the pos far more times as he is the better player. Valencia only assisted 9 times in his so called great season in 09 in the league and his Wigan record is very poor. Nani had 18 assists in the league. The thing is, Nani's accuracy will improve which means more assists but Valencia has not got the trickery to beat his man when he is getting marked.
I'm not doubting Nani gets into those positions more, if you actually read what I said rather than blindly defending Nani (as usual) you will see that the problem I have with Nani is all about his decision making, I clearly say that Valencia doesn't have his bag of tricks, however Valencia does make good decisions which in a lot of cases makes up for that lack of variety in his play, Valencia also defends which is a huge advantage when playing an attacking full back like Rafael behind him.
