08 Jul 2018 10:49:32
Morning guys,
I think it's been a very good World Cup from a Utd perspective. Pogba, Lindelof, Lingard and Lukaku have all arguably been standout performers for their countries and made significant contributions. Fellaini came on and rescued Belgium from the brink. He was probably the best player against England and was excellent against Brazil. Young has been solid. Rashford came on and changed the game against Tunisia. He showed amazing maturity and composure to stick his penalty away.
I think it demonstrates we've got a very good squad and importantly most of our players are young, they are still learning and improving. Their experience at the WC will be invaluable and we should reap the rewards with the renewed confidence they will bring into next season.
I'm excited by the signing of Fred and hope he can bring the energy and intensity to release Pogba. I think we must accept now that Pogba is a unique player. He won't dictate the play or set the tempo. He can often get caught sleeping defensively. He can surrender possession too easily at times but some of his passing and vision is out of this world. He isn't always involved but he never hides and he always tries to make things happen. He's never safe playing easy or ineffective sideways or backwards passes. He's a fantastic player burdened by unrealistic expectations in a world where he's expected to defend like Kante, pass like Scholes and attack like Zidane.
Special praise must be afforded to Jesse Lingard. His movement, intelligence and work rate has never been in question but now he's added a goal threat and end product to his game. Is there a more improved player in world football right now? Surely his form warrants a run of games at No 10 rather than being shunted out on the right when he often struggles to impact the game.
I can't help feeling that this could be a pivotal few months in the career of Luke Shaw. With Young out of the picture at the WC then surely he will be afforded a run of games during preseason and he may even start the season as our first choice left back. He needs to make the most of this opportunity, he won't get a better chance to show why we spent so much money to sign him.
I think we've got a lot to feel optimistic about going into next season. It won't be easy but we've got a chance.
08 Jul 2018 13:47:41
Lindelof has been brilliant most times I’ve seen him for Sweden, he was phenomenal against Italy in the play off.
I think he was beginning to settle towards the end of the season and turned in some good performances.