21 Apr 2015 11:40:23
It must of been nearly a month (apart from eariler) that I have been an active member of this site. I hope I haven't been missed too much haha, been away, work commitments etc have filled my time. But I have seen all of the games and I have enjoyed every single one! 3 months ago if you had told me that we would take 9 points from Spurs, Liverpool, City and Chelsea I would of laughed at you, I thought City and Chelsea would roll us over and Liverpool would have a good go as well. What has impressed me is that we have finally seen this philosophy come into play - the players seem to get it now and the system suits them down.
It has surprised me though how well it has suited Mata. I never had him down as a wide player, but he is a wide player with freedom to roam and influence the game from all angles. This works tremendously. Similarly Young, although Di Maria will eventually be the starter in that role he has been brilliant along with Rooney up front who is by far and away our best striker.
Casting a gaze forward to next season, where do I see the areas of the team that need improving. Starting from the back, Valencia is still no right back despite some very good performances. Clyne looks a fairly safe bet, he should improve us. Hummels also looks like having a good chance of happening, pairing him with Smalling would give us really good balance with Rojo, Jones and McNair as the back up. Shaw 'arrived' against Chelsea, he was fantastic and our best player. Between him and Blind we have two very capable left backs so there is no concern at all there.
Moving to midfield. Carrick, Herrera and Fellaini have worked very well. The cover for Carrick is a concern - would Gundogan be competition for him or are they too dissimilar? Or would we see Khedira? Also as well as Fellaini has done I still don't want to see him starting, a replacement there would be needed.
The big question is does Rooney remain our main striker or do we heavily invest in a new one? I personally think that we will invest in a new striker. Here is why:
I don't believe that Fellaini is the long term solution to our team (as useful as he is). But in order to drop him we need a big, strong replacement who puts himself about - that is where the striker comes in. Someone like a Cavani or a Benteke (not necessarily Benteke guys) who would move into the channels, compete in the air and knock the ball down while the likes of Rooney, Mata, Herrera surround him to pick up the loose ball and do something with it.
So, if it was me. Next season the same system and shape of the team needs to stay with a few changes. Clyne replacing Valencia, Hummels replacing Jones, Cavani replacing Fellaini in the starting line up and the rest staying the same. Then we simply need depth and rotation options like Depay and Khedira or Gundogan.
21 Apr 2015 12:50:01
I think Depay is going to be much more than just a rotation option. I think he will excel in the premiership Fresh. He has every tool at his disposal to do so.
I for one am very excited looking towards next season and with some strong additions, Depay being one and continuing the style of play, we will be hard to beat and tailor made for a good run in Europe.
21 Apr 2015 14:33:16
I'm very excited about Depay and I hope we get him. Reminds me of a young Ronaldo, all be it better at his age. Could mean Januzaj leaves.
21 Apr 2015 15:18:51
He is like a young ronaldo but his physique now is much better than ronaldos at that age, I still think there is room for januzaj and hopefully he can step up, ashley young is not getting any younger either.
21 Apr 2015 15:31:48
fresh, your post mirrors mine of a few weeks ago. I to believe in not putting square pegs in round holes and well as valencia has done i don't want a converted winger at right back anymore than i would want a centre half playing there( jones/smalling)
I am delighted that fellaini has proved himself but also believe that he is an option rather than a solution. He will always have role to play but he is a it of a one trick pony and as the chelsea game proved, when you nullify his strength he doesn't have any other strings to his bow.
I would let both falcao and rvp leave which if nothing else would take the best part of £500k off the weekly wage bill. I am not going to enter the debate regarding which striker we should then buy other than to say that i would be looking for a proven goal scorer with good pace and movement.
21 Apr 2015 16:27:24
TBH I don't really rate Cavani as much as people do here . We do need striker but someone that will be happy to play second fiddle to Wayne Rooney and yet is good enough to give us goals when needed. Cavani will never fit in that role and he is not a midfielder to replace fellaini . I would prefer Austin who is certainly not a fancy name many people like to have but he certainly would fit the role i am talking about . Ings on free also would be good
21 Apr 2015 17:01:51
Have to agree again Srestha, Charlie Austin would be a useful addition, I think we will see falcao and hernandez leave and possibly RVP. We would still need a top class striker, someone in the ilk of lewandowski who can hold the ball and link up well in play.
21 Apr 2015 17:02:42
Srestha, you would probably be referring to someone like Benteke then? A mid priced striker with a good eye for goal and is a handful.
21 Apr 2015 20:47:49
Not totally sure why so many people on here tend to view Fellaini as just a squad player for us. He has shown this season that he deserves to be starting most games, and despite any reinforcements that we recruit in the summer, I doubt we'll bring in a player more effective at doing what he does. I think people's criticism of Fellaini is more directly at the perceived style of play when using him: that we hoof it up for him to control and lay it off. Our last few games have shown that we are far from being a long ball team, but the advantage of having someone like Fellaini, who is one of the best ariel players in the game and a total nuisance for defenders, is huge. Of course it's a squad game and if we're in the CL next year then we're going to need to use a variety of different players, but for me Fellaini should be an integral piece of our team to be honest.
22 Apr 2015 04:02:25
Fresh ! Yes I would go for Benteke but only for low price . Any chance Villa ask for crazy money, there are still plenty of fish in the sea