An idea! Why don't we bid for the top strikers of the main premiership rivals: Costa, Sanchez, aguero, Bony, Kane, Lukaku, Mane? If we get them LVG may play them in the wings but at least they won't be available for these rivals. At the very least we may unsettle them if they stay where they are. Win-win no brainer.
True, if they were to hit form then Rooney, Memphis, Mata, Herrera and the consistently good Martial would be a hell of an attack. We are assuming they won't. So who would you be looking to buy. The key here is 'you're' the manager....
You can add Young to that. Right now I'd drop Rooney, play Mata at 10, Martial as centre forward with Herrera on the right and Young/Depay on the left. Nowt wrong with that, we don't really need to sign anyone.
Yep my thoughts too. And I also think Wilson can't do any worse than Rooney atm but have him as back up striker. Someone asked earlier on if we were too hasty in loaning out Januzaj. For RW or even up front, he may have been worth keeping.
Young was summed up for me with his first touch yesterday. That's young to a T for me. And I would do the same, Memphis left, martial central etc.... But Memphis is woefukky bad right now, as bad as Rooney of not worse. Mata isn't playing particularly well either and Herrera too. So how much would change? Ideally Memphis is phased back in, finds some form and makes the left side his. Rojo offers the defensive protection for Memphis to take a few risks and not beworried about being caught out. This will allow Martial to go down the middle. If Mata and Herrera can replicate that on the other side then we are in business. This thread is looking at it from a POV that these players remain out of form.
He has. Though Rooney's suspension forced his hand (or was he injured?). We actually played well but Memphis, Mata, Herrera and others were also playing well. They've since lost their form and it shows.
That's the frustrating thing. Deployed in the right positions in the right system they could be a very effective attacking unit. That's not what we're seeing though.
We have though and seen the same issue. Last season we all wanted Rooney up top now he's there, it turns out we were a little hasty. He wasn't the answer, he isn't now. Martial would be ideal up top right now but then who is supplying him? Martials the only one I see trying to get the ball towards the goal so if he's the one expecting to finish a chance...... Who created it? As good as Martial looks, I don't think he can do it all. If Herrera had put away that chance yesterday, regardless of how poorly he played he would have picked up coincidence. It was a good late run, well seen by Martial with a comical finish. Rooney would have been embarrassed by it and you've seen Rooney's finishes recently . That would have given Herrera the confidence to make those runs more often. It is his job to support Rooney when he plays the advanced midfielder role but he doesnt do it enough IMO. Let's hope someone does something next game and it sparks a run for them. Don't care who, just any of them to hit a patch of form and raise the team as a whole.
At present Martial up top with almost any Rooneyless combo behind him. I am certain we would look more effective. It's that simple. LVG must be able to see it. He is either too scared, too stubborn or not allowed to deal with it.
And we did look better with exactly that. Your second line is interesting. Especially regarding if he's not allowed to deal with it. Surely there's no way its in his contract that he must play? Is it?
I find that very hard to believe. I'll sign your £250 a week contract and by the way, I have to play every game. No chance.
No I think you're blowing the "out of form" thing way too much. Herrera has been very good as the number 10, and Mata has done perfectly well on that right side. Even if either or both had a bad game yesterday, that doesn't excuse the 8-9 poor performances this season. They are playing how the manager wants them to play. I do agree that Martial can't do it all on his own, no striker can. But the fact he's getting few chances is not Herrera and Mata's fault, it's a collective problem based on our style of football. Ball retention and possession is the priority at the expense of expediency and cutting edge and pace in attack. Trust me, you can sit at OT and 76,000 ppl can see the through ball or forward pass. Instead the players stop, take a touch, look up, pause, then play the 10 yard pass sideways. These are "football intelligent" players. Herrera and Mata both possess great vision, so you have to ask the question, why are they not allowed to play those passes?
BTW (and this is not meant to provoke at all) but I've yet to see a manager - who's team plays with pace and one touch attacking football - sitting in the stands, for the full 90mins, every game. The style of our football reflects the manager's demeanour. EDIT: probably the wrong thread
