Assessing our squad

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dozer
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jason_uk wrote: 2 years ago
fat maradona wrote: 2 years ago Some bizarre decision making going on
It is a bit weird, and lingard shouldn't be near the starting 11, but as a squad player he's a decent bench option, can play in several positions.

I just wouldn't be offering him massive wages!
Yes, ib spite or his his 95th minute assist, I'd keep him ahead of Martial. As a non starter he's OK.
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bman2
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I thought Ronaldo’s movement against WH was interesting. He was outside of the box a lot, opened up space for others to attack. Didn’t fit the narrative that he’s just a poacher who hangs out by the opposition goal now.

McT was a presence in midfield. Put himself about etc. Needs to show more confidence in his passing though, otherwise with him and Fred we just have two runabouty tacklers. It would be less of a problem if we had an attacking right back. I thought Beek was tidy in possession before being subbed at half time, maybe worth giving him a run with McT.

I think Ole has so many options in attack that it’s actually a problem. Lingard’s good form shows that. He’s made a good case to start. It’s going to make it harder to find the right combination, and some of those players are going to get understandably pissed off with limited playing time.
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bman2
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I don’t think Beek made the bench against Atalanta, so that’s him definitely done, if there was any doubt left. Why not let the guy go to Everton in the summer?

Sancho didn’t make the starting line up. Starting to look like a lot of money wasted there.

Pogba didn’t make the starting line up, though Ole did bring him on when we were getting beaten 2-0. But he’s even less likely to stay if he’s not starting. I think he’s probably as good as gone.
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bman2
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Can be Bailly really not be coached to make fewer mistakes? Especially with Varane beside him, giving him instructions, a fellow French player too. There’s a lot of talent there.

He’s certainly a better choice than Maguire right now. For the last for games, it’s very obvious that opposition teams are targeting Maguire, they see him as the weak link. Tbh I didn’t think Maguire was this bad, he might still be injured.
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JoelfuckingGlazer
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Varane and Bailly could be an excellent pairing. And mobile too, so we COULD play a higher line, more pressing game. Under a proper coach. Bailly's biggest issue is being injury prone.
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bman2
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JoelfuckingGlazer wrote: 2 years ago Varane and Bailly could be an excellent pairing. And mobile too, so we COULD play a higher line, more pressing game. Under a proper coach. Bailly's biggest issue is being injury prone.
Speaking of which, sounds like Varane is out for a few weeks…
Fuck the Glazers
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JoelfuckingGlazer wrote: 2 years ago Varane and Bailly could be an excellent pairing. And mobile too, so we COULD play a higher line, more pressing game. Under a proper coach. Bailly's biggest issue is being injury prone.
Bailley pulled up a couple of times yesterday. I was expecting him to go off injured as per.

That's a good point though, both Varane and Bailley are quick, so we could in theory play a high line. But Ole won't drop Maguire. We might have to wait for a new manager to see that partnership.
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bman2
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It’s a relatively minor issue given everything that’s wrong with the club these days. But I find Ole’s refusal to play Lingard more to be particularly strange. I thought he liked the player, and his form has been extremely good at West Ham and in the few minutes he’s been given.
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bman2
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I’m just thinking about what it means for our squad if we were to stick with the 4-2-2-2 approach we used against Palace. We might not, of course, but just out of interest.

2 strikers: we could make good use of our options here. We definitely still have too many, but there should be regular minutes for at least four strikers, rotating.

2 number 10s: surely means we need 4 tens as well? Good news for Beek? I’d say Bruno, Sancho, and Donny would be our first three choices, but Lingard, Amad, would be good too.

2 “sixes” (as RR described them): Obviously a bit light here. Will Pogba be a 6 for him, or 10? Needs reinforcements, regardless of how we rate Fred and McT. Matic is solid, but getting on. I think this formation needs the sixes to be able to move out wide to cover for the fullbacks when they get forward. Don’t know if Matic has the legs anymore.

Fullbacks: obviously we need attacking fullbacks for this formation. A real challenge for Bissaka in particular.

Centre backs: Playing very high up the pitch. Lindelof was excellent against Palace. I always suspected he’d shine in a high line. I think Varane or Bailly would be a better partner for him than Maguire though, because although he’s good on the ball, his slowness is such an obviously vulnerability.

I wouldn’t be surprised if our starting 11 becomes (assuming no reinforcements in January):

Rashford — Ronaldo
Sancho — Bruno
Fred — Pogba
Telles — Varane — Lindelof — Dalot
DDG

But with a clear pattern of play, we should see a lot more rotation than we did under Ole, plenty of minutes for other players too.
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Jason
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bman2 wrote: 2 years ago I’m just thinking about what it means for our squad if we were to stick with the 4-2-2-2 approach we used against Palace. We might not, of course, but just out of interest.

2 strikers: we could make good use of our options here. We definitely still have too many, but there should be regular minutes for at least four strikers, rotating.

2 number 10s: surely means we need 4 tens as well? Good news for Beek? I’d say Bruno, Sancho, and Donny would be our first three choices, but Lingard, Amad, would be good too.

2 “sixes” (as RR described them): Obviously a bit light here. Will Pogba be a 6 for him, or 10? Needs reinforcements, regardless of how we rate Fred and McT. Matic is solid, but getting on. I think this formation needs the sixes to be able to move out wide to cover for the fullbacks when they get forward. Don’t know if Matic has the legs anymore.

Fullbacks: obviously we need attacking fullbacks for this formation. A real challenge for Bissaka in particular.

Centre backs: Playing very high up the pitch. Lindelof was excellent against Palace. I always suspected he’d shine in a high line. I think Varane or Bailly would be a better partner for him than Maguire though, because although he’s good on the ball, his slowness is such an obviously vulnerability.

I wouldn’t be surprised if our starting 11 becomes (assuming no reinforcements in January):

Rashford — Ronaldo
Sancho — Bruno
Fred — Pogba
Telles — Varane — Lindelof — Dalot
DDG

But with a clear pattern of play, we should see a lot more rotation than we did under Ole, plenty of minutes for other players too.
That backline should happen, maybe Shaw will have a shout, but it will take some balls from Ralf to actually drop maguire.
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