13 Apr 2020 11:40:28
Let's have a proper football debate. Up until the break we were playing good football and getting some good results. Although the side isn't perfect an identity is starting to emerge while we are starting to have some guaranteed starters within our side. One of which has had an interesting season so far. That being Harry Maguire.

Now I'll be the first to hold my hands up and say I wasn't convinced by him when we were chasing him last summer, and although he has been better than I thought he would, he still hasn't totally convinced in my opinion. He is dominant in the air, good with the ball at his feet and seems like the kind of player others look up to. In that sense he is a good leader. All that said he still has two main weaknesses, that being a lack of recovery pace and poor positional sense. With good coaching though the latter can be improved.

However, as has been mentioned on here over the past couple of days great centre backs have often had a good partner to act as a foil to them in order to get the best out of them. So could Maguire and the overall performance of our defence improve if we can find the right partner for him? I certainly think so.

So without thinking outside of our squad who do you guys think is the best partner for Maguire?

Personally as much as I like Lindelof I don't think he complements Maguire. Both are good with the ball at their feet, but both find themselves in the wrong place too often. We concede goals due to BOTH our centre backs being in the wrong place where if we had even one of them in the right place we probably wouldn't have conceded. Lindelof played most of his youth career in midfield as such his defensive reading of the game isn't as sharp as it should be in my opinion.

I think the key attributes we need for a partner for Maguire are great defensive instincts/ reading of the game plus recovery pace.

Personally I don't think Lindelof ticks those boxes. However, I do fee we potentially have three players in our squad that do.

First Axel Tuanzebe, he is a natural defensive leader, he talks through games, has pace and has good reading of the game. What holds him back is injuries and a lack of top level experience. However, if he can stay fit I feel he could form a very good partnership with Maguire.

Second is Eric Bailly, he just knows how to defend. The way he covers for everyone is top class, he is quick, strong and reads the game very well. The issues he has is again his injury record and occasionally he can be a little rash. Again if he can stay fit he could make an excellent partner for Maguire.

Finally Chris Smalling, this one might be a little left field as he has been allowed to leave on loan. He has always been a physically imposing player, strong and very quick. His issue has been a lack of quality with the ball at his feet and his reading of the game meant he often found himself in the wrong place. Although his pace often meant he could recover. That said in the past couple of seasons he has shown greater reading of the game and is out of position less. He could potentially be a good partner for Maguire if given a chance. Although in my opinion both Bailly and Tuanzebe seem more natural partners and a better fit with Maguire.

So who would you guys want to see line up along side Maguire next season?

1.) 13 Apr 2020
13 Apr 2020 11:47:54
Bailly and maguire should be first choice with tuanzebe and lindelof as back ups.

Need to shift rojo and jones and smalling this next transfer window.

2.) 13 Apr 2020
13 Apr 2020 11:54:50
Smalling.

3.) 13 Apr 2020
13 Apr 2020 13:09:19
Both Bruno and Maguire have brought leadership qualities to the squad.

Maguire has calmness and composure on the ball which was sorely lacking from Smalling/ Jones.

Although he lacks pace, he wins almost all aerial duels and organizes the defence.

I came across a stat, United have kept the second most highest clean sheets amongst the top 5 leagues.
I feel it's pretty good considering De Gea's occasional wobbles and the team lacking a top class defensive midfielder.

4.) 13 Apr 2020
13 Apr 2020 13:26:10
I don't know, he shows flashes of brilliance, but he needs to work on his positioning.

I would actually argue that Lindelof has better positioning and doesn't look able to cover when Maguire goes awol. Think that's why he has regressed since maguire came on.

5.) 13 Apr 2020
13 Apr 2020 14:18:12
Smalling was a liability when last he played. Continually holding players and thus liable to give away free kicks and penalties. Tuanzabe is unproven at the top level bit i would like to see him given a chance when fit. For me Bailly is the best complementary player we have for Maguire right now but I would still prefer a Rio or Van Dyck type player alongside him.

{Ed004's Note - I would probably edge towards a fully fit Bailly as first choice to partner maguire as I think he's just as good on the ball as Lindelof, probably the same in the air, but has the pace to cover for Maguires lack of it. Second choice would be Lindelof and that's only because Tuanzebe is an unknown quantity as this stage.

There's persistent links with Koulibaly still and I wouldn't be against selling Smalling, Jones and Rojo to fund a move for him. Think he would be an ideal partner beside Harry. Although I do not think that is likely.}

6.) 13 Apr 2020
13 Apr 2020 14:21:25
I'd go with Axel to be honest. He is the only one who hasn't really had a chance to nail down a place, partly down to injury. In the limited time he has played, he's clearly has the physical ability to be a good CB and he has shown he is good enough on the ball.

Bailly is hit and miss as well as injury prone across a couple of seasons. Lindelof has had a lot of game time and is decent but for me is not top class. None of Rojo, Jones or Smalling are good enough in my opinion.

It's not an ideal situation but I think we need to prioritise signing a RW, CM and CF ahead of a CB so I'd be surprised if we saw a new CB come in to partner Maguire.

7.) 13 Apr 2020
13 Apr 2020 20:07:33
Shappy - I actually think we've got some pretty good options at CB. I'm still not convinced Lindelof is the best partner for Maguire and I personally would prefer someone with a touch more pace and physicality. Bailly would be my preferred option and I have huge hopes for Tuanzebe but unfortunately both have struggled badly with injury.

I think OGS's next few additions will be vital in taking us forward but are now perhaps not as obvious as his initial acquisitions.

From studying our games over the past 12 months I believe his preferred formation is probably a 4-2-3-1. I think Solskjear's wants pace and fluidity in attack with players capable of interchanging positions and pressing from the front. I think he wants his two midfielders to be more disciplined and positionally astute but also capable of making penetrating forward passes into the front players. I think in Fernandes we now have a player capable of dictating our attacking play, intelligently linking the midfield and attack whilst also being able to make runs ahead of the ball and into the box.

What we have really missed in my opinion is a RW. I've read the furore around Sancho and no doubt he'd be a brilliant and exciting transfer but I think the finances involved make a deal very unlikely and maybe we already have the answer under our nose!

I just wonder if Greenwood could stake a claim for the RW/ RF position and save us a tonne of cash. He's already scored five premier league goals in his debut season where he has predominantly been used as a substitute. A lot of CF's start their careers in wide positions and the way the game has evolved wide men are no longer expected to hold their positions or chase back all the time. I also think Greenwood can be really effective against teams that will surrender possession and sit deep. When he picks the ball up in and around the box he's such a threat as he can shoot with power and accuracy off both feet.

A front four of Martial, Rashford, Greenwood and Fernandes has the potential to be a very effective and fluid attacking unit. I think we've seen this season that Rashford and Martial are both capable of scoring goals and from what I've seen Fernandes and Greenwood are also capable of hitting the back of the net with regularity. All four players should easily be capable of scoring at least 10 league goals a piece. With the likes of Ighalo starting the odd game and making an impact off the bench and Dan James providing cover on both flanks we now have a more consistent goal threat.

In my opinion Ole's biggest mistake was placing too much faith in the likes of Lingard and Pereria. Whilst both players have shown a willingness to run and work hard they just haven't provided anywhere near enough creativity or goal threat and this has placed added pressure on Rashford and Martial to perform. With the signing of Fernandes and the emergence of Greenwood I'd always fancy us to get a goal which couldn't be said only a few months ago.

Fernandes has made a tremendous difference and with Greenwood maturing, Shaw finally finding some form and consistency with the likes of Bailly, Mctominay and Rashford returning to fitness I'm cautiously optimistic that we can finish the season strongly when it finally resumes.

8.) 14 Apr 2020
14 Apr 2020 09:03:38
Soyuncu?

9.) 14 Apr 2020
14 Apr 2020 09:31:50
Shappy, you always remind me of Mrs Merton when you start these posts 😁.

10.) 14 Apr 2020
14 Apr 2020 11:35:24
DLIB, I’m not sure what will be our go to formation next season. Ole played mostly with a 433 last season, has relied heavily on 4231 this season but has also played variations of 343/ 3412 at times as well, especially in the big games. I think he has generally adapted to the players he has had available to him. Last season with a fit Pogba and Herrera it made sense to play three in the middle. But with Herrera gone and Pogba injured, plus the general injury concerns to Matic and McTominay at various points during this season the idea of a 433 really didn’t work.

What Ole and his team have shown is the ability to adapt his set up according to the players he has available. This makes it harder to guess what his go to formation next season will be.

So rather that trying to second guess him I think it makes more sense to look at the squad holistically and see what areas are weakest and assume those areas will be where we will look to invest.

On Greenwood, I too have wondered about him making his way into the team on the right flank. Much as Rooney, Rashford and Martial have before him. Maybe like Rashford he will settle out wide, or maybe he’ll eventually move more central like Rooney. That said even if Greenwood is our first choice for the RW role next season we still lack depth there with the only other players in the squad who could play there being Andreas Pereira who doesn’t look comfortable there, James who is better on the left or Chong who lacks experience. So, there is a clear lack of depth on the right flank, plus it might not be prudent to place the expectancy to play every week and maintain a level of consistency on a player who will be 18 at the start of next season.

I’m as excited as anyone about seeing our kids make it into the first team, but they need to have players they can learn from, be pushed and supported by, and someone who can play when the pressure is getting too much on them either mentally of physically. It’s important to remember that at 18 his body is still growing, and the physical pressure put on his body needs to be managed now so that he doesn’t have long term fitness issues.

I think RW is the clear area within our first 11 regardless of what formation we play where there isn’t a nailed on first choice player. As such that should be the first area we look to strengthen. Followed by midfield as injuries have exposed the lack of quality in depth we have in the middle of the park both in holding midfield and in attacking midfield. While who lines up along side Maguire in a back two or three still has a question mark over it. If Tuanzebe and Bailly can stay fit then we have enough options. But if not then we will need another player there. Maybe a young option such as Salisu who we have been linked to. Someone who can be brought in cheaply, would give us another body in there and seemlessly allow a switch between 2 or 3 at the back.