manutdredseal46
Hopefully, this lineup is realistic.
The only incoming transfer, other than the confirmed ones, is the assumed one of de Gea, which doesn't seem to be a stretch.
GK: de Gea becomes the starting keeper, obviously, with Lindegaard becoming the first choice as backup.
LB: Evra goes without saying. Quality player.
CB: Vidic is the best central defender in the world, so he obviously maintains his spot.
CB: I've chosen Ferdinand over Smalling, but I think Smalling will become Ferdinand's successor as the season progresses.
RB: I've chosen Rafael da Silva over his brother Fabio because Rafael is, actually, a right-sided player, as opposed to Fabio (left-sided). Although Fabio did cover for Rafael late in the season, I'm convinced it had more to do with Rafael's injury than it did a decision to pick Fabio over Rafael on a permanent basis. For me, it seems more plausible that Fabio will eventually be a successor to Evra on the left and Rafael will resume his position on the right in the upcoming year.
LWM: Nani is a huge question mark for me at left wing. He prefers to play on the right and Park and Giggs are often preferred by SAF. If he finally learns to be less selfish with the ball, I think he'd be a great starter with fantastic scoring AND passing. If not (Nani leaving), I wouldn't be surprised if Young played left winger, Rooney went back to second striker, and we used the funds from Nani's transfer to buy a young, passing central midfielder or went with Cleverly returning from loan or even Pogba, which seems like a very SAF thing to do (though Marvin Martin is a personal favorite).
CDM: Although many see Phil Jones as a successor to Ferdinand, we seem to have Smalling for that, and Jones spent most of last season in a holding midfielder role anyway, so I don't see why he would play any other role.
CAM: The biggest oddity of my United midfield is Rooney as an attacking midfielder. But, think about it. Rooney likes to play in the hole, not as a "true" striker. He comes back on defense, great for a midfielder, but leaving him out of position as a striker. Rooney likes to take shots from distance, which he can definitely do in this role. His passing is absolutely superb, for me the best aspect of his game and what makes him one of, if not the world's greatest. I think that putting Rooney in the center of the midfield with Jones, as I hope SAF is doing, would allow United to have two midfielders great in defense and a great attacking threat with Jones' solid passing with Rooney's great distribution through the middle.
ST: Given the move to the midfield by Rooney, Ashley Young comes up to play as a second striker as he does most effectively for England. I love this position for him because of his speed, vision, and selflessness.
ST: Ashley Young could form a great partnership with Chicharito, incumbent from last year, as neither is a selfish player, both are extremely fast, and, importantly, both can finish. Chicharito has room to go, but SAF is great at developing young players like him.
Yes, I am omitting Berbatov, simply because he doesn't fit anywhere. I wish he did fit somewhere seeing as he's a fantastic player, albeit and expensive one, but I think it makes the most sense for him and for the team if he moves on this summer. We have some quality backups at the striker position too with Welbeck and Macheda coming back and we still have Owen, who SAF is strangely high on.
25.06.2011
25.06.2011
david1993gud team thats what i wud of done love to see rooney play midfield as he is one of best passers i seen
25.06.2011
mbillington10I don't think that it is very likely at all that those front six players will line up in that formation.
Phil Jones is a centre back. Blackburn Rovers played him as the deepest lying midfielder in a 3 man midfield to try to improve his distribution. However, as he had a poor successful pass rate, Blackburn moved him back to centre back, and if you look through the Guardian chalkboards you'll see how his distribution stats were examined.
Ashley Young has been bought as a left winger to provide competition to Park, and he will have the freedom to drift inside while the right winger, Nani or Valencia, will stay wide and provide width. As you have highlighted, Nani made Ferguson aware of his preference of playing on the right, hence why his form wasn't as good once Valencia returned to the team.
I agree with your assessment of Rooney, his passing is very underrated but if you play him in central midfield you will reduce his goal threat considerably. I think next season he will play off Hernandez like he did last season. I'm not sure who will play at right back, because Fabio has traditionally played as a left back, however, he is right footed, and journalist Tim Vickery has highlighted how he was played at left back so that his previous club could play both brothers in the same team, and because Fabio had greater ability, he was moved to left back.
One area that caused United trouble at times last season was central midfield. Hargreaves missed the entire season, Fletcher was injured for a long time and the manager doesn't seem to have confidence in Anderson. But in your team, you have a striker and a defender playing in central midfield.
I can see that you are trying to fit new signings into the starting eleven, but it is unlikely that these players will all play together in the same formation. I'm sure United will strengthen central midfield in the transfer window, then we'll have a better idea of how they will line up next season. I think you are right to highlight that Ferguson will move for a central midfield playmaker to replace Scholes, such as Modric, and he will probably play alongside Fletcher or Carrick.
26.06.2011
OnceABluembillington is spot on here, I'd bet my house we'll never see those 6 on the pitch at the same time.
28.06.2011
