So, The Championship & ECL are In the bag...

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

Jose Ernesto Sosa anybody?

Never heard of him?

Originally Posted by borsuk

nani also looks capable of ten a season, [SIZE="6"]as does park.

.

park wont score ten goals for the rest of his footballing career.

Originally Posted by MUFC One Love

Never heard of him?

right sided AM currently with Bayern, who can play left or central

fast and technically gifted

nearly 23, Argentinian international

Estudiantes get 10% of any future transfer

only been at Bayern for a season

but Bayern apparently want Goran Pandev from Lazio for around 30m euros

United could be in for Pandev as well, but I'd prefer Podolski

my hunch is that Bayern Munich are the team United will be head to head with over the next couple of seasons - aside from Chelsea - possibly both on and off the pitch; Bayern are on the up again

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

right sided AM currently with Bayern, who can play left or central

fast and technically gifted

nearly 23, Argentinian international

Estudiantes get 10% of any future transfer

only been at Bayern for a season

but Bayern apparently want Goran Pandev from Lazio for around 30m euros

United could be in for Pandev as well, but I'd prefer Podolski

my hunch is that Bayern Munich are the team United will be head to head with over the next couple of seasons - aside from Chelsea - possibly both on and off the pitch; Bayern are on the up again

They invested heavily last summer and I think they'll only get better. I think they'll invest again this summer. Ribery seems to have done very well for them.

Originally Posted by Ether

Erm. Anderson hasn't even scored once for us yet. So to say you can see him scoring regularly next season is a hell of a leap. And when has Park looked capable of double figures in a season!? He's barely had a shot on goal all year.

it is a leap, true. but i think there are reasons why anderson hasn't scored - or even had too many efforts on goal - which are related to the formation/personnel rather than to him. i think park will play quite a lot next year and, while ten might be optimistic, i think he'll score a fair few. maybe 6-8 for both of them.

whatever, we can argue about the numbers. the point i was trying to make is that the lack of goals from midfield has been more a 'problem' (result) of the formation, rather than the personnel. we've been compensating for not having a genuine striker, if you like, by playing three off strikers and three deeper midfielders quite a lot of the time.

re park, he got 5 in 14 games for us in the league last (i.e. 2006-7) season. six of those appearances were as sub, many for just ten minutes or less, meaning he got 5 in 8 starts plus some bit appearances. that's not a bad return at all.

this season, by contrast, he's managed 1 goal in 14 appearances (4 as sub) despite the fact that most of us would say his performances have been far more impressive.

like i said, the style we're playing has made it harder for us to score from midfield. if we get a striker in then there's no reason park (anderson etc.) can't chip in with a lot more goals, particularly as park, anderson and nani are likely to figure a lot more prominently next year.

the main problem with the central midfielders was that they were not taking advantage of the spaces created by United's devastating attacking speed.

people will say that's because they couldn't physically do it, but that's a cop-out and also bullshit imo.

they began to work it out the longer the season went on and get into more threatening positions.

but the shooting in the main, especially from Carrick and Anderson, was gash.



be interested to hear what Tiberian thinks of Sosa (as he shares my view that we need this type of player) and of course Serenity please for the Sth American angle.

Originally Posted by borsuk

re park, he got 5 in 14 games for us in the league last (i.e. 2006-7) season. six of those appearances were as sub, many for just ten minutes or less, meaning he got 5 in 8 starts plus some bit appearances. that's not a bad return at all.

this season, by contrast, he's managed 1 goal in 14 appearances (4 as sub) despite the fact that most of us would say his performances have been far more impressive.

like i said, the style we're playing has made it harder for us to score from midfield. if we get a striker in then there's no reason park (anderson etc.) can't chip in with a lot more goals, particularly as park, anderson and nani are likely to figure a lot more prominently next year.

still 100% more goals than Anderson in 20 less appearances!

having said that, and as much as I've always rated Park, he is actually an ideal makeweight should the situation arise

Can only see 2 signings, Defender and striker.

Neville will ( ffs surely ) be fit next season and Saha will HAVE to stay as the fourth striker as surely no tit will pay money for him

So that covers our need for a striker and Gary plus a new defender will cover Silvestre n Pique leaving.

Would of kept Silvestre, glad Dianas gone.

Originally Posted by ScarFace

Can only see 2 signings, Defender and striker.

Neville will ( ffs surely ) be fit next season and Saha will HAVE to stay as the fourth striker as surely no tit will pay money for him

So that covers our need for a striker and Gary plus a new defender will cover Silvestre n Pique leaving.

Would of kept Silvestre, glad Dianas gone.

I would say a striker coming in, and surely 1 defender, minimum.

Sad to see Silvestre go, I always liked him, as frustrating as he was. AS for Pique, just the wrong time for him to be at OT I'm afraid.

Saha may as well stay, but I think he'll leave. Still not convinced we'll ever see Manucho, will be delighted if Campbell and Welbeck get a chance and make a go of it next year.

I'd like another Midfielder, Carrick, Fletcher and Hargreaves, even Rodrigo, are al much of a muchness in terms of the attacking threat they offer. I would like a player that can offer a goal threat and running ability with the ball,take a bit of pressure off Anderson's shoulders.

I would like it all to be done before the start of the Euro's too, along with Ronnie signing a new 6year, £150k a week contract & Evra a new 5 year, 70k a week contract, just to give us a nice settled grounding for the summer. I could do with some stress free time.

Out : Pique , Saha , Fletcher...?

In : Veloso , Villa , Hunterlaar

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

Jose Ernesto Sosa anybody?

Well, for me the thing that will always stand out about Sosa was the decisive free-kick he scored for Estudiantes against Boca in the Apertura play-off match a couple for years back. He broke the hearts of Bosteros everywhere with that

Anyway, he's a talented lad - attacking midfielder; naturally right footed but plays well with his left too; as his nickname (El Principito) would suggest, he has quite an elegant style, always playing with his head up, but he's also a bit more physical and athletic than you'd perhaps typically expect from an Argentine number 10; in terms of technical qualities, he has a nice touch, dribbles the ball well, and his vision and passing ability mean that he has a good capability to play the killer pass. Also takes a very decent free-kick and shoots quite capably from medium range in open play.

On the negative side, he's not always able to impose himself on matches, so sometimes you'll watch a match he's playing in and barely notice him at all. He also has a tendency toward being overly individualistic and a bit too elaborate in his play.

In Argentina he was generally used as a right sided central midfielder or as a number 10 behind the strikers, but he can also play cutting in from the left, as you say. At youth level I believe he played a bit as a second striker too.

I haven't seen too much of Bayern this season, but from what I've heard he's struggled a bit so far in the Bundesliga. I believe he's had some injury problems too, which obviously doesn't help. So I think you'd want him to establish himself more firmly in Europe before even considering him as a potential signing for a club like United.

In the handful of Bayern matches that I have seen, the outstanding player has almost inevitably been Ribery. When you look at the combination of technical quality, creativity, and the excellent mentality that he possesses, I think he'd be fantastic at United. Unfortunately, he'd also cost an absolute fortune now.

Originally Posted by Serenity Now

In the handful of Bayern matches that I have seen, the outstanding player has almost inevitably been Ribery. When you look at the combination of technical quality, creativity, and the excellent mentality that he possesses, I think he'd be fantastic at United. Unfortunately, he'd also cost an absolute fortune now.

He has always said he doesn't want to play in England though, hasn't he? Would be the ideal signing if we were to lose Ronaldo though, top quality player.

I've just bee watching Wednesdays game again, and I can't help but think that whatever we do with regards to bringing players in, we need to make sure we improve the size, strength and power of the team, particularly through the middle, because that is the only reason Chelsea were forcing us back in that game, they were just bigger, stronger and quicker in most departments.

Originally Posted by MUFC One Love

I think Berbatov would be ideal for us at this moment in time imo.

We won't sign Benzema, definitely not this summer anyway.

Glen Johnson could be a good signing, wouldn't be to dear and is a very good full back.

Never used to rate him but since he's been getting regular football he's looked a class act.
I agree he would make a good signing for us.

Glen Johnson won't go anywhere, Pompey are building, they're in a good financial position now and don't need to sell. I can honestly see them making 2 or 3 quality signings and pushing for 5th/4th place next season.

Fergie said there's no way he'll be shipping anyone out, which i guess means the likes of Pique, Saha and Silvestre are staying.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

I've come round to Wes tbh. Think we need a right back but if Utd can't sign Alves then I'd be tempted to go for Rafinha. Very good prospect but wouldn't arrive demanding/expecting a first team spot.

I agree about Wes. He was very good yet again in the final. Some on here have been saying for a while that we don't need a new right-back and I'm starting to think unless we can get Dani Alves, who is too good to turn down, I'm not sure it's a priority anymore. It'd be nice to add someone like Rafinha for a decent fee as a squad player, but Wes' form and Hargreaves ability to play there to a decent level means it's not as much of an issue as it was, imo.

Personally, I still think we could do with another midfielder. Long-term, Anderson will play further forward, and I still think Hargreaves and Fletcher, while having their uses, are not really the ideal options in terms of having the qualities to play as a defensive shield in front of the back four. Carrick is the only player able to perform this job to a high standard and as such we’re overly reliant on him being available all the time. If he got injured for a sustained period next season I think we’d really suffer.

I wish he'd get a £#%&!ing move on tb honest. Season finished Thursday morning and he's going on his holidays in five days.

Still, nice at the top while it lasted eh Saf? Get out.

Could be right S/Side. Be interesting to see where Veloso ends up.

Perhaps reading too much into it but going off his interview today it seems Utd may try and sign a tall striker. I think that would be the right thing if we can't sign a player like Benzema. If Utd can add another attacking midfielder with pace then a tall(ish) striker who can hold the ball up/link the play in certain games - especially away from home - would be ideal.

Originally Posted by Serenity Now

apparently a lot of prem clubs are after him including Spurs