spleenscore

@MUNScout @TEAMtalk @chestermanutd3 Not a great defender and his crossing would be a good weapon but he’s not currently close to elite IP otherwise. Hall, Truffert, and Kadioglu all better in the round imo.

Manchester United believe El Hadji Malick Diouf profile matches many of the qualities they are looking for in a LB He has impressed with his athleticism, versatility, & attacking ability, placing him firmly on the shortlist. [@teamtalk] 📽️@chestermanutd3

@UEF_Podcast I think of the two, if we already had M Fernandes, Mainoo & Ederson, Tonali is the one who adds passing range. It’s very carry heavy if we got Baleba instead, even though M Fernandes’s passing is really good.

💭 United isn’t going to spend over £100m on a player under INEOS anytime soon. That effectively rules out Anderson at those numbers. If Jose decides to keep Tchouameni, which is likely considering his profile (if you know,you know 🤭), then that marquee Casemiro replacement will really come down to premier league proven players Baleba and Tonali. Who should we sign out of the two ? 🤔

@pythaginboots Should be working on back & through movements with Jude / Rash running off Kane, and Kane / Jude box crashing when switched right for Saka. Hope he’s not thinking Bellingham is gonna be sat in the hole lock picking defences with Kane playing on the shoulder all tournie.

Good side but issue is two of the back 4 are crocks so unlikely to be at full fitness and last the distance at the World Cup. Front 5 looks very cohesive tactically - only issue is Jude and Kane I’m not sure they’re elite chemistry but still world class enough in theory to make it work.

@ZaidBalll Abandoned Ireland. Abandoned West Ham. The former isn’t at the World Cup, and the latter has been relegated. Hope he’s happy with himself.

This is reaching Chloe Kelly levels of cringe now. Performative cringey dude.

Lads, let’s be honest, that’s an own goal by Verbruggen. 21 isn’t down yet. #MUFC

@Hosang I mean that three you mention there would be incredible because they’re three of the highest level hybrid out there. Camavinga would be a calculated risk and I’d like to see a left footer in there. But if we get three hybrids at Ederson’s level I’ll feel very different 😂

@spleenscore Probably sums up my position

Swiss army knife

@Hosang I like Cunha & Mbeumo. Cherki was so perfect for Amorim’s system & much better value. Very frustrating that one. Stakes are so high with the MF as Carrick has basically geared the whole approach around keeping Casemiro on the pitch.

It’s a bit like last season. I really like Mbeumo and Cunha. I would’ve probably liked to have seen Cherki. But they weren’t ludicrous. I wanted Watkins over Sesko. I still think Watkins was a better player but it’s not ludicrous. United have historically made some bad choices. Ugarte, Yoro, De Ligt, Zirkzee. Those were bad for different reasons.

@Hosang I think if we could get a proper good DM instead of Ederson (now seems unlikely) I could be less disappointed not to be getting Tchouameni or Anderson, who felt like must-buys (though, for different reasons, profile-wise)

@Hosang I like M Fernandes. Watched him a few times, including at the Stratford Hellhole, when he was v good at retrieving the ball & sustaining pressure in our half. Ederson looks busy. Always thought Tonali gave us a mauling alongside Bruno G when we’ve played them.

@htomufc @TaalhaUtdd_ Only angle he needed in the end was to take advantage of Rico moving in low.

@TaalhaUtdd_ So strange seeing Usyk not work angles, boxing so straight

he’s not tiring

@_Utdbaki 🎯 There’s no imperative to chase Ederson first either.

The club is lowkey kinda wrong for going after Ederson as their first signing. The fanbase would be more calm with the signing if they had signed a tier one midfielder first.

@TheDevilsDNA @DbChatterjee Prefer to go big on x 2 DMs who are physical (recovery pace, duel win success), know how to play 6 positionally & enjoy a disciplined DM role, than over focus on tempo setters/mad passing range. Market is abundant with B2B/connecting 8s who can be 2nd pivot, rotating w/Mainoo.

@DbChatterjee I don't think it's that easy. Esp for 8s who love defending and passing on the front foot becoming a positional build up 6 type is very tough. Physical and mental are linked. Players develop traits as per capability. It's not like a tactical download that converts roles.

My opinion is United are looking to sign a physical profile and hoping to teach him the OOP mental attributes, than signing a DM with the mental abilities already but not the physical profile (eg. Perrone) And I find it logical.

@Hosang That’s probably £200m min though, right? Even Stach is gonna be c. £40m as it’s Leeds & they’ve stayed up. Given up hope on Anderson - think United needed movement on that by now for it to be a reality. Love Bruno G & feel he’s one that got away before going to Newcastle.

@spleenscore My preferred is Anderson, Guimaraes and Baleba or Stach

@afema_gilbert @alfiecoulson08 @EBL2017 @Mymanager12 As I said, perhaps more adventurous shooting from range, but look at Gibbs White’s catalogue & see how important his contribution has been. Eze’s been selected because he played well across about 20 mins in a couple of games for Tuchel - I don’t think that’s a good enough reason.

@spleenscore @alfiecoulson08 @EBL2017 @Mymanager12 Still if you've followed football this season and have watched him...he's got the attributes of a typical moments player heck even at Palace he'd always be shit then one moment is what it takes gor him to score a goal, FA cup finals comes to mind

🚨 Let me take you inside the mind of Thomas Tuchel… 💭 Tuchel prioritises profiles over names. Gareth Southgate tried to fit all of the best names into the team to start the Euro's last time around and that resulted in England playing poorly in every game in the entire tournament. Alright, they got to the final, but they were seconds away from being KO'd by nations like Slovakia and Switzerland which would have been a natural disgrace. The media said 'you have to play Foden, Trent, etc'. Tuchel doesn't buy into that primitive way of thinking, and rightly so. He has a tactical system and the players must fit into that. It's a 4-3-3 base with a #6, #8, #10 balance in midfield. Rice has freedom to 'feel the spaces' and play slightly lower than the #10 who must stay high and between the lines. However, the balance in each wide triangle is the priority. On each side, when England have the ball in open play, there must be 1 player high and wide, 1 player high and between the lines in the half space, and 1 player low in a central position at the base of that triangle. This gives England the best possible balance to interchange, combine, rotate, occupy the 5 lanes across the final third, AND maintain compactness in defensive transition in the initial line of counter-pressing and in the second line of managing the defensive transition. Within those triangles, each player must be comfortable in each area (high and wide, in the half space between the lines, and at the base of the triangle) whilst each collective trio offer a balance of showing to feet and running in behind. Take the left triangle, for example. O'Reilly can play in each of the three areas but also run in behind. So can Gordon and so can Rice. On the right, the same is true for James, Saka, and Rogers. With Kane as the #9, England will need players who penetrate the space in behind the defensive line as he drops deep to link play (this might explain why Palmer, for example, missed out). But football is not just a 'with the ball' game. You need to excel defensively, too. Tuchel's England press in a diamond shape from the goal kick. To press zonally, you need reliable defensive players, especially alongside someone like Kane. Saka, Gordon, Rice, and Rogers are some of the most reliable defenders in the game. The same is also true for Bellingham. Gibbs-White would have been closer to selection than Foden and Palmer for these reasons. Not only does he run in behind more, but he is also a much better defender. Similar can be said for Mainoo in midfield over Wharton. Mainoo has played that exact pressing role at the tip of Carrick's diamond at Manchester United, so he is an apt alternative to Declan Rice should he or Elliott Anderson get injured/suspended (Rice could then play in the #6 with Mainoo as the #8, for example). England also try to transition into a man-to-man press at times or they defend low in a 4-4-2, and they do this via a central rotation (centre back jumps to the #10, #6 jumps to the #6, and the #10 jumps to the centre back – think Guehi, Rice, and Rogers). Tactical discipline and collective balance relative to Tuchel's system is why he has made some eyebrow raising selections. He likes Spence at fullback because he can play in the 3 lanes in the left triangle and provide cover at right back if James/Livramento get injured. Burn can also provide cover at left back in that context. Someone like Henderson in midfield is unlikely to get many minutes (if any), especially because Rice is versatile to play in the #6 and #8, but his presence is crucial in the camp because of his leadership qualities. Similar can be said for Dan Burn. Levi Colwill is a better player than him, but Burn is #1) heavily underrated and #2) an incredible standard setter and character. Harry Maguire will feel unfortunate to have been left out because he profiles similarly to Burn whilst being a better player, but he is not as versatile to cover at left back in case of an injury crisis. Quansah is also positionally versatile. It could even see Reece James play in midfield at some point because of the presence of lots of right back profiles in the squad (Konsa included). An argument can certainly be made for a guy like Harry Maguire to be in the squad over John Stones, for example, and I can see that, but the reality is Stones also happens to be a special player who has incredible experience at the highest possible level. Tuchel has had the luxury to leave out Maguire, Shaw, Foden, Bowen, Gibbs-White, Trent, Wharton, Palmer, Colwill, Hall, and others I'm sure that I'm forgetting like Welbeck and Calvert-Lewin… there was always going to be uproar or unhappiness at certain choices with that level of depth at his disposal. However, from Tuchel's perspective, he strives for balance relative to his system and style of play. I think it's a risk to not bring another left-footed fullback over someone like Spence, for example, as that can negatively impact build-up dynamics as he gets trapped on his right foot (especially with Guehi being right footed on the left too), but outside of that the squad makes a lot more sense to me than it seems to to the average person… Tuchel will give England balance at the World Cup and they are one of the favourites to win it because of that. They have always had the talent, but now they have guaranteed tactical balance on top of that. Something Southgate failed to provide at crucial moments in previous tournaments (despite doing a good job overall).

@afema_gilbert @alfiecoulson08 @EBL2017 @Mymanager12 He’s scored 10 goals this season & 3 of them were winners, one was against Mansfield. Only one was scored in the 2nd half, and none of them after he came on as a sub. His two late goals for England were in games we were winning comfortably.

@spleenscore @alfiecoulson08 @EBL2017 @Mymanager12 Eze is a moments player who can win you a game 1-0 when brought on in the second half.. you need that in tournament football

@Hosang Jimmy, c’mon man. Do you honestly think Burn has been brought in to play a high line for England? 😂 Against anything more than a decent team, he will be as exposed as Maguire might be. Versatility is the only strong argument, and Tuchel confirmed that re DB & other DF picks.

Because he’s better at playing a high line 😂

@utdAdams @Penpencil19 Club bias can be negative too. I get he’s not picked them but cos of preference, not trust. Can’t build trust if they haven’t played. But ofc he’s the manager, so up to him. It doesn’t negate the objectively good reasons for picking them, which is what some fans are discussing

@spleenscore @Penpencil19 If it was club bias then I’d want Maguire/Shaw in the team, as their performances have been fairly decent. You forget to factor that neither have played a single qualifiers match under Tuchel and Tuchel chose players he trusts more; which is why they’re not in the squad.

Shaw 😂.

@alfiecoulson08 @EBL2017 @Mymanager12 Offers little Gibbs-White can’t do imo, except maybe a little extra quality with balance/shooting from range. G-W also has improved movement in box, works hard defensively, has technical proficiency, is a good leader & coming off the back of his best individual season. Opinions!

@spleenscore @EBL2017 @Mymanager12 he’s rarely been played there this season for Arsenal, but one of those games was the second game v Spurs and we all know how that went for him. he’s a top dribbler, creator, and scorer, so he’s really versatile in that sense.

@utdAdams @Penpencil19 Daft to draw a similarity. This isn’t United rebuilding, it’s England going to a tournament. Can’t accuse everyone of sentimentality re selections when you’re looking at things with a club bias.

@Penpencil19 I need it.