will anyone else admit our squad is far to thin....

we don't have a lot of cover, but any of our players will look average when exposed.

I don't really regard valencia as cover at rb, because his positional sense is non-existent and he is hardly what you might call drilled in the offside trap as if channeling george graham.

cover at left back isn't much better - rojo is an option, but blind is just a good, intelligent player who could play there if he had to.

however, stick valencia in front of darmian and blind in front of rojo and maybe you've got cover.

the defence would look better with a proper midfield in front of it so individuals are not constantly exposed, particularly if the fullbacks are meant to augment the attack. the midfield would also look better if we had the full complement of midfielders in it. carrick and schweini are good players, but schweini would have had be superman to perform the role he seemed to be trying to play against arsenal.

we've got plenty of attackers; we need to play fewer of them.

so, as always, whilst our squad has limitations and it would always be nice to have more options, the real problem is the manager. as far as this particular point is concerned.

we've got enough nominal centre backs to play 3-5-2, I suppose, but it's hardly been a great success when tried. smalling seem ok with it and rojo bloody well should ok with it.

maybe van gaal could stop looking at rojo and herrera as though they were scousers at a dinner party.

Originally Posted by puressence

I have no interest in what a fan of whoever nasri plays for has to say on mufc ...

Doesn't matter if it was Paul Lake saying it, the truth is the truth. We brought Fellers and Tony on yesterday to try and change the game.

Originally Posted by Reno

Doesn't matter if it was Paul Lake saying it, the truth is the truth.

You wouldn't be able to shut him up about his glittering career anyway.

We're good enough to stay near the top of the league, if not be top by January. Then we can see who is out there we can bring in to provide some depth in defence. I'm not worried about attack. Rooney's shite but with Martial, Mata, Depay, Herrera, Fellaini, Wilson we have players with a goal threat. And if the fat scouser gets going we'll be fine there

Originally Posted by reno

doesn't matter if it was paul lake saying it, the truth is the truth. We brought fellers and tony on yesterday to try and change the game.

i respect paul lake

Originally Posted by puressence

i respect paul lake

Prefer David Whyte tbh, he was fast as £#%&! dont cha know.

Originally Posted by That Boy Ronaldo!

It is thin, no strength in depth. Loads of players none of them good enough.

Oh what a shame, i'm having a dig at United, least we've backup in McNair and Jones though. Meant to be one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

a) Who is Bayerns back up CB? Or Real Madrid? Do they have Worldies in there?

B) We are and will always be one of the biggest clubs in Europe mate.

C) You're a #@&%!.

I think most would acknowledge it's thin.

it's certainly unbalanced. the squad needed streamlining, but I think he's gone too far.

personally, I think selling Rafael, Nani and Rvp was a mistake.

it's a squad clearly still under construction. its shortcomings are clear and they will bite us in the arse at times. I think we all knew this though.

As shocking as that first twenty minutes was yesterday, it didn't highlight much we didn't already know:

-we lack defensive cover
-he still doesn't know what his best midfield is
-Darmian, Depay, Schweinstieger and schneiderlen are still settling in
-Rooney can't be relied upon anymore

yesterday is why we are still a way off winning the league. I just hope our reaction can underline some progress, because I do think it's there.

Originally Posted by marlo

its almost suicidal how much lvg has stripped our squad down.

the only injuries players we have are rojo, shaw and herrara!

our bench yesterday was

fellani
romero
jones
wilson
valencia
schneiderlin
mcnair

we literally have no proper attacking options from the bench.

if the first 11 don't work....you can even say we have impact subs who will make the difference. with the money spent i don't think its good enough to be honest.

hernandes, nani and as much as i hate him adman should have been kept on.

Totally agree.

If I'm honest, I think Carrick, Basti and Schneiderlin are all a bit much of a muchness. We need a bit more variety, some pace, tenacity etc. I love Carrick but I fear his time has come, need a younger man in there. Granit Xhaka or someone similar, from Moenchengladbach. Energy, drive and a presence.

Definitely need a proper CB alongside Smalling too. Forwards of course.

Interesting to see what they do about LB. Will they bring someone in in January or persevere with what we have until Shaw returns..

Originally Posted by dunk

If I'm honest, I think Carrick, Basti and Schneiderlin are all a bit much of a muchness.

agreed.
No pace in the side at all.

Martial looks quick & direct. Other than that there's only really Ashley Young who stretches the opposition - & he's not the answer in terms of quality. Certainly his final ball.

We're ponderous & cautious as £#%&! tbh. Not United at all. Win or lose we have to do it at a high tempo imo

Originally Posted by dunk

If I'm honest, I think Carrick, Basti and Schneiderlin are all a bit much of a muchness. We need a bit more variety, some pace, tenacity etc. I love Carrick but I fear his time has come, need a younger man in there. Granit Xhaka or someone similar, from Moenchengladbach. Energy, drive and a presence.

Definitely need a proper CB alongside Smalling too. Forwards of course.

Interesting to see what they do about LB. Will they bring someone in in January or persevere with what we have until Shaw returns..

bit harsh.

carrick is perfect for the carrick role. oh, yes. I wish he'd get forward a bit more, but he can't if he's the only one in front of the defence. clearly, he is on his last legs and will need replacing soon, but he is still very effective.

but to say schweini doesn't offer dynamism, pace and tenacity.... don't know what you've been watching, but he can do everything as part of a midfield (as opposed to an individual covering too much space). as for schneidi, he's been a bit innocuous so far, but he's also trying to find his feet in an undermanned midfield.

play all three of them and I bet the lightweight fancy dans of the arsenal don't own midfield. more likely shit themselves.

Originally Posted by dunk

If I'm honest, I think Carrick, Basti and Schneiderlin are all a bit much of a muchness. We need a bit more variety, some pace, tenacity etc. I love Carrick but I fear his time has come, need a younger man in there. Granit Xhaka or someone similar, from Moenchengladbach. Energy, drive and a presence.

Probably for me, none of them are getting any consistency, in and out of the team every game isn't helping. No midfield partnerships.

If were going to play a midfielder in defence would rather it be Carrick, move Blind over to LB full time also means Basti/Herrera/Schneid can play every week.

Play all 3 of them and Martial will be developing Stockholm syndrome with opposition CB's as he never sees another United shirt or the ball during the course of the game.

Been massively underwhelmed by Both Sch's so far, early days I know, but Schneiderlin appears petrified of doing anything and Schweinsteiger is constantly blowing out of his arse.

I wish Carrick was 25

Originally Posted by dunk

Play all 3 of them and Martial will be developing Stockholm syndrome with opposition CB's as he never sees another United shirt or the ball during the course of the game.

Been massively underwhelmed by Both Sch's so far, early days I know, but Schneiderlin appears petrified of doing anything and Schweinsteiger is constantly blowing out of his arse.

I wish Carrick was 25

we could play those three in midfield and still have three attacking players.... herrera/mata and rooney/memphis with martial. he won't be lonely. plus, it would give our fullbacks licence to get forward. schweini and herrera are just as capable of picking out a through ball as anyone. and blind can ping up the longer balls.

without a bunch of @#%&!s taking up space, martial would be able to roam at will and use his pace and strength, instead of standing on the last man and wondering why no £#%&!er will cross or pass.

he probably gets lonely with rooney dropping back into midfield anyway.

Originally Posted by dunk

Play all 3 of them and Martial will be developing Stockholm syndrome with opposition CB's as he never sees another United shirt or the ball during the course of the game.

Been massively underwhelmed by Both Sch's so far, early days I know, but Schneiderlin appears petrified of doing anything and Schweinsteiger is constantly blowing out of his arse.

I wish Carrick was 25

Schneiderlin has lost his way the last couple of games, again it hasn't helped he's in and out of the team every week.

They're all shit scared to do anything with the ball.

Originally Posted by That Boy Ronaldo!

Schneiderlin has lost his way the last couple of games, again it hasn't helped he's in and out of the team every week.

They're all shit scared to do anything with the ball.

Yeah Martial looks petrified when he gets it out wide and begins to run at defenders tbf.

Originally Posted by dragflick

Yeah Martial looks petrified when he gets it out wide and begins to run at defenders tbf.

He's the only one, Mata and Schwe do something every now and then but the rest are safety first stuff.

Don't think i've seen Depay take on a defender on yet. All very similar to last year, players scared to make a mistake. Frustrating.

Originally Posted by That Boy Ronaldo!

He's the only one, Mata and Schwe do something every now and then but the rest are safety first stuff.

Don't think i've seen Depay take on a defender on yet. All very similar to last year, players scared to make a mistake. Frustrating.

You're an idiot.

Originally Posted by dragflick

You're an idiot.

Why thank you.