Man Utd Thread:

[GJL]

Typical result for the team at the minute.

Capable of beating anyone on their day and capable of losing to pretty much anyone too.

Genuinely don't know what he does with the CMF. It was obvious even more so than the centre backs that this was the area that needed strengthening. But the question remains if the team had a world class holding mid fielder would that be enough to steady the ship or is it more a system thing?

I'm not sure. I think CB is the problem. If you had two top level centre backs the midfield would't be as much of an issue. What other top team in Europe wold Maguire of Lindilof get playing for?

Maguire at fault at the weekend for Leicester's first and again last night for the goal from the corner..

Look back at all the successful teams Utd had and they always had an excellent CB pairing.

[03,05,08]

I'm not sure. I think CB is the problem. If you had two top level centre backs the midfield would't be as much of an issue. What other top team in Europe wold Maguire of Lindilof get playing for?

Maguire at fault at the weekend for Leicester's first and again last night for the goal from the corner..

Look back at all the successful teams Utd had and they always had an excellent CB pairing.
[/quote]


Maguire and Varane should be a top level center back partnership, If there was a decent holding midfielder in front of them I think it would make a world of difference 

[screenexile]

I'm not sure. I think CB is the problem. If you had two top level centre backs the midfield would't be as much of an issue. What other top team in Europe wold Maguire of Lindilof get playing for?

Maguire at fault at the weekend for Leicester's first and again last night for the goal from the corner..

Look back at all the successful teams Utd had and they always had an excellent CB pairing.

Maguire and Varane should be a top level center back partnership, If there was a decent holding midfielder in front of them I think it would make a world of difference
[/quote]

If the front 3 or 4 aren't doing any pressing it doesn't really matter who you have holding as they'll get played through. Atalanta demonstrated that quite clearly in the first half where they pulled McTominay and Fred all over the place.

People keep saying the Liverpool game will show Utd where they're really at but I would expect them to be compact and try to hit Liverpool on the break where they're more than capable of hitting 2-3 goals and winning the game.

The problem comes when they have to be the dominant team and play attacking themselves. The lack of intensity/pressing from their attacking players leaves them in trouble against teams like Everton/Villa/West Ham/Brighton who are organised and play a counter attacking style against the big teams. Liverpool/Chelsea/City generally turn these teams over and that's where Utd are struggling.

[gallsman]

Lads, Maguire is an absolute liability, even when fully fit. He gets away with shoves in the back more than any footballer I've ever seen and referees are starting to get wise to it. You could see on Saturday his genuine shock at the ref blowing him up for blatant fouls.

But he scored a goal last night and he cost 80m, so people will overlook the obvious.

[Boycey]

A lot of people narrow the problems down to a couple of positions and say if Utd had an upgrade in those positions they'd be fine. Personally I think that while obviously there are upgrades in some positions there are enough good players at Utd to be doing significantly better than they are and that comes down to management/coaching.

[Boycey]

Lads, Maguire is an absolute liability, even when fully fit. He gets away with shoves in the back more than any footballer I've ever seen and referees are starting to get wise to it. You could see on Saturday his genuine shock at the ref blowing him up for blatant fouls.

But he scored a goal last night and he cost 80m, so people will overlook the obvious.

Hes not but fashionable to say he is

[snoopdog]

Lads, Maguire is an absolute liability, even when fully fit. He gets away with shoves in the back more than any footballer I've ever seen and referees are starting to get wise to it. You could see on Saturday his genuine shock at the ref blowing him up for blatant fouls.

But he scored a goal last night and he cost 80m, so people will overlook the obvious.

I would agree Maguire gets an easier ride because he is English. He I no where near top quality. A DM might hide his constant ball watching and poor positioning but also a replacement for him would undoubtedly strengthen the defence. Varane is unquestionaly a class act.

[thewobbler]

I agree Boycey.

Maguire is right up there with the best central defenders in the league. Maybe only Rudiger and VDV have been consistently up there with him the past 5 seasons.

He's quicker than he looks. He's good on the ball. He read the game very well. He's as strong as an ox. He's fantastic in the air. He's a vocal leader.

And he's been doing this for the past few years behind a counter attacking side, which means he's constantly under more pressure than his top 6 club peers.

But because he looks like a cattle farmer who has just got out of bed, some people just can't help pretending to themselves that he's continually at fault when United have the the temerity to concede an actual f**king goal.

I would love to see the hotlist of potential replacements these people have in mind. Or maybe they all just think there's a perfect centre half hanging around the Portuguese or Belgian lower leagues that the scouts really should have picked up by now.

[gallsman]

Lads, Maguire is an absolute liability, even when fully fit. He gets away with shoves in the back more than any footballer I've ever seen and referees are starting to get wise to it. You could see on Saturday his genuine shock at the ref blowing him up for blatant fouls.

But he scored a goal last night and he cost 80m, so people will overlook the obvious.

Hes not but fashionable to say he is

He is but easy to dismiss any criticism as bandwagon jumping, or "fashion".

I agree Boycey.

Maguire is right up there with the best central defenders in the league. Maybe only Rudiger and VDV have been consistently up there with him the past 5 seasons.

He's quicker than he looks. He's good on the ball. He read the game very well. He's as strong as an ox. He's fantastic in the air. He's a vocal leader.

And he's been doing this for the past few years behind a counter attacking side, which means he's constantly under more pressure than his top 6 club peers.

But because he looks like a cattle farmer who has just got out of bed, some people just can't help pretending to themselves that he's continually at fault when United have the the temerity to concede an actual f**king goal.

I would love to see the hotlist of potential replacements these people have in mind. Or maybe they all just think there's a perfect centre half hanging around the Portuguese or Belgian lower leagues that the scouts really should have picked up by now.

Bayern picked up Upamecano 40m euro.

Interesting that you assume Maguire's detractors target him because he looks, paraphrasing your language, a bit agricultural, when it's his sheer size that leads people to label him as a "vocal leader". He's neither.

It's his football, not his looks, that people have issue with.

[thewobbler]

The assumption that a 22 year old from another league is fit to automatically displace an established, experienced player in the PL, is one that always amuses me.

But when there's so few defenders in Europe who are clearly an upgrade on Maguire - and even fewer again who would be willing to leave their current club for United - I guess this is the kind of theory one must roll with.

[Jeepers Creepers]

The assumption that a 22 year old from another league is fit to automatically displace an established, experienced player in the PL, is one that always amuses me.

But when there's so few defenders in Europe who are clearly an upgrade on Maguire - and even fewer again who would be willing to leave their current club for United - I guess this is the kind of theory one must roll with.

If Maguire reads the game very well, he's very good at not letting on.

[Armamike]

It's all well and good coming back from being a goal or 2 behind, and this team seem to be good at comebacks (or another way to look at is they only get going when they're on the brink of losing the game).  But if I were a supporter I'd be worried that the team can't get a foothold in the game and see it through from start to finish.  These comebacks are thrilling on the night, but that kind of rollercoaster football isn't sustainable.

Having said that, I'd expect Sunday's game to be tight. Man U will be a different proposition at home, against Liverpool. There's no way they'll play high up the pitch with a a few fancy dan forwards floating about not  pressurising and let Liverpool play out from the back. Ole won't be able overnight to turn Ronnie, Fernandez, Pogba etc into grafters so they'll sit deeper and counter.  Rashford if fit would be key to this you'd assume.

[BennyCake]

Maguire was blamed for that Leicester goal, but you had to look at the pissing about the defence were doing passing the ball around the penalty box. It was asking for trouble. And DeGea's final ball to Maguire was atrocious.

[An Watcher]

Pity de gea is stuck on the goal line. Surely he should be out punching when the ball is 5 yards out

[gallsman]

 

Maguire was blamed for that Leicester goal, but you had to look at the pissing about the defence were doing passing the ball around the penalty box. It was asking for trouble. And DeGea's final ball to Maguire was atrocious.

What about Daka's and Soyuncu's goals?