Team V Man U

Silva was almost as bad as Amartey. But overall very encouraging indeed. Maddision looks like her is going to be some player
We have a lot of technically good players in the side now. future looks bright . very young side

 

I prefer Iborra to Silva. Positionally alot better then Silva and a goal threat

 

Overall thought the positives outweighed the negatives, most of which will be changing i.e. Vardy back.
No idea why we played Amartey instead of Simpson, feel for him especially as mentioned he's previously played with no one tracking back each week. Would've been a better option and had support. Going forward in the season i understand but not tonight.
A couple of good saves from De Gea but we'll face worse keepers and score if we can create those chances.
A defeat but reason to be optimistic for the season if we can continue and build on tonight's performance.
We were unlikely to get anything away at OT lets face it but it wasn't slow and turgid and the lads looked up for it.

 

Despite the result pretty positive. Everyone bar Armartey whos confidence would have been jolted early played well. Interesting to hear Shaw go on about being among the best left backs in the world when Chilwell was far better. Thought Iheanacho was only left on as it has taken a while to build his confidence up so to take him off would have knocked him back. Good game and a little unlucky but its good to be back.

 

I agree, much prefer to see Iborra in there

 

So many more positives than negatives from that. Two great saves from De Gea (shame he was back on form after everything went past him in the World Cup) and that one from Vardy before he scored, he buries that 9 times out of 10!
It’s great when the new signings look good, Maddison and Ricardo great and Gray. Makes me less concerned about filling the creative void. I reckon Ghezzal has some ability as well albeit he came into the game at a point where we had dropped off a bit yesterday. Once he settles who knows. Hopefully Evans in for Wes next week and Amartey our for either Ricardo if we put someone else further forward or if Ricardo must play on the wing I’d sooner have Simpson there

 

Not sure Iborra offers any more than Silva in a defensive midfield role. Both can be slow and get caught dwelling on the ball in dangerous positions. And neither are great ball winners either. I prefer my defensive midfielders to live up to the title and be good defensively. Leave the creative stuff to the ones playing further forward.

 

My worry is once Mendy gets fit he will play both him and Ndidi together. I wouldnt mind as much in the away games but not at home. Too defensive

 

When Mendy gets fit? When has he ever been fit? He's the most injured player I can ever remember. What is his latest injury and when did it happen? Did he play much when he was on loan? Per playing minute for us he must be the most expensive player we've ever had.

 

Thats the complete issue though.... Silva ISNT living up to his title (or reputation)

 

Im yet to be impressed with Silva. I just dont understand what he brings to the team. He just passes side ways alot

I want to see him make some killer passes, run with the ball, have a shot, play a long ball behind the defence, try and unlock the defence

Just shows some ambition in his play

He just does nothing but 5-10 yard little passes

 

I think the central midfield position is the next one to address. Ndidi is obviously fine, but all the other options really aren’t bringing much to the team. Hopefully Choudhry will flourish eventually, but in the meantime it’s just a player that’s not making a telling contribution.

 

Definitely need to move some on from centre mid before buying though. James is surely surplus and Kingy (as much of club legend he is). I guess if you kept King you’d move on Iborra or Silva and of course there’s Mendy. You’d probably want 5 in the position so Ndidi, Choudhury, 2 of Silva, Iborra and King plus a new signing but it’s one of them where just make sure any new signing is both a massive improvement and has a different style to what we already have as we have done enough stocking up on quantity not quality since the title win

 

Silva and his Portuguese sidekick William Carvalho are the same type of players. They are what Eric Cantona would call water carriers. They make themselves available for passes from team mates then just pass the ball on to the nearest player in space without any meaningful ambition. They suit that team well but have no defined strengths to their game. They aren't strong defensively and they aren't creative. Silva is no better than Andy King. His stats might look good because he makes plenty of passes, but there's no end product. It can be a problem trying to bring in players from southern European leagues who look good in their own environment with twenty odd easy games a season, and getting them to adapt to the speed and intensity of 38 competitive Premier League games. Pereira on the other hand has a more defined role and looks more the part.

I'm afraid our scouting team has brought in some real expensive duds over the last couple of years - Slimani, Iborra and Silva - and wasted millions that could have been spent much better.

 

More I think about it, the more I think that Ndidi could be the problem - Silva had to address him continuously straying from position and losing the ball in silly areas when he was supposed to be a more solid presence in the middle and lay off the ball to the wingers.

Can see him being dropped and more disciplined player like Iborra starting the next game.

 

If that happens we won't have a ball winner in midfield at all.

 

Ndidi is the only midfielder we have that does his job week in and week out. He wins tackles, breaks the opposition play up. He needs someone next to him who is more ambitious and creative with their play

Drinkwater was that man but he left so his replacement which was Adrien Silva was meant to be the man to do that job. He just hasnt even looked like that player. Never passes forward, weak in a tackle, not an ariel threat, doesnt score or create goals
You just get 80+ 10 yard sideways passes a game from him

He needs to step his game up dramatically

We have alot of midfielders but short of the required quality

Mendy, Silva, James should all be let go
King, Amartey squad players
Iborra and Choudhury back up
Ndidi starting

 

For what it’s worth, I personally think that Iborra’s an excellent footballer and compliments N’didi well

 

Ndidi is really good at pressing and winning the ball but afterwards what does he do? More often then not he ends up losing the ball while out of position. He needs to learn how to pass 10 feet.

Adrien has played much better then Drinkwater did in his last season with us by virtue of those 10 yard passes going to team mates - his job is to pass the ball to the more creative players like Madisson and Gray then get back into position which he has been doing fine. Making 40 yard passes to the likes of Vardy is the responsibility of other players as we are playing with 2 DMs.

Mendy has done bugger all - I'm willing to give him a chance as Puel knows him well so might be able to get something out of him if he can stay fit.

James is due back in September according to Puel - lets see what he can do before we dismiss him.

 

I’d quite like to see James next to N’didi in this system... or am I going crazy!? I actually rate James a lot