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Football News: Revamping the Manchester United midfield

I think Manchester United need to improve in midfield. However, I don't like the idea of differentiating between first choice players and squad players.

I've always liked the approach Fergie had with his strikers when we were blessed with Sheringham, Yorke, Solksjaer and Cole. The four of them were interchangable in terms of quality and it didn't really matter which two of them played (although you could make the argument that Sheringham and Yorke were closer in playing style as well Cole and Solksjaer) .

Anyway, the point is that I think we need this approach to revamping our midfield. To my mind, we only have two decent midfielders in Pogba and Matic. If we change between 2 and three in midfield then its like we have 2 1/2 midfield positions for which I believe we need 5 top quality midfielders who are interchangeable in terms of quality but who all have different attributes. It's a 60 game season so if you are a clever manager who is good at rotating the squad then each player should get about 30 games depending on injuries.

I think we need to move on Fellaini and Herrera because much as I like them both, when it comes down to it they simply aren't good enough players. With Carrick retiring that means we have midfielder berths which need filling.

The choice is between bringing in shiny new players or giving the opportunity to the young players we already have.

Savic sounds like he would be an excellent signing. An all action player in the Pogba mould who could play alongside Pogba with a more defensive midfielder behind. We definately need a deep lying play maker or perhaps two so it makes sense to pursue Jorginho and also go for Verratti if there is any chance of buying him as Shappy suggests. Playing those two together would be like Kroos and Modric at Real. There is nothing like two players of that kind playing together if you want to control the midfield. If we can't get Verratti then perhaps we should try for Weigl.

 


However, I haven't forgotton McTominay who looks a decent prospect but is more of a b2b player. He hasn't exactly had any of us raving (yet), so has he the quality to be one of the the first choice midfield pool of five, possibly instead of Savic? Then what do we do about Peira who seems to be having great success in Spain? Should we make him one of the five players? Do we know yet what is his best position?

If we promote both McTominay and Pereira, this would mean bringing in only one new midfielder if we can move on Herrera and Fellaini. I would suggest this needs to be a play maker because if we have a midfield five of Pogba, Matic, McTominay and Pereira then that's what we are lacking.

I also have to question whether McTominay and Pereira are any better than Fellaini and Herrera, nevermind Savic and Jorginho? There's no point in keeping them if we already have better or we can bring in better.

Unfortunately, I don't have the indepth knowledge about players to answer my own questions but no doubt some of my betters on this site can put me straight.

However, my central point remains which is that we have a pool of equally good midfielders with different talents and the manager can select two or three of them with different skill combinations depending on the opposition and the tactics. It might also mean that someone like Matic can have a rest without a drop in quality. Hasn't he been playing with an injury for the last six games?

Written by MancMan February 10 2018 13:55:47