Jesse Lingard and Michael Keane

Joby,

Classic.

On the Man Utd OS now:

http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2012/Nov/united-set-up-triple-loan-exit-for-keane-lingard-and-brady.aspx

Interesting that you mention Wellens Dunge.

It just occured to me that if he is getting back to match fitness, he could be a key player for us. Come back Richie - all is forgiven.

I read earlier that McCarthy wants to keep him. A good judge of a player!

prawns: I always rated Wellens. For the first time in years, here was a midfield general - someone to demand the ball and control a game.

The problem is that word 'if'. Can he get back to the Wellens he was, or is he still struggling to cover the ground needed in the Championship? I fear that he's not quite up to it any more, despite not being that old. I'd be interested to hear Ipswich fans' views on him and whether he's pulling up any trees there, but my instinct is that we're probably better off with Drinkwater.

...That's if Drinkwater can recapture some form, of course!

Wouldn't see him as a direct replacement for Drinkwater.

I think we need a settling influence, so for some games (or for part of them) I could see Wellens in a 5 man midfield with King (or Knockeart) pushing on behind Nugent.

Let's face it, the other "striking" options are not up to much so I am almost coming 'round to playing our best 11 and moulding the formation around them.

That's one reason I'm not keen on playing a 4-4-2. At least Vardy appears to be flexible to the extent that he'll do a job out wide in a 4-2-3-1 as well as up front in a 4-4-2. It's worth noting that Waghorn and Schlupp provide this flexibility as well, although of course whether you think they're up to it is another matter.

I'd be happy with Wellens as an effective substitute - someone you could bring on to change or bring experience to a game. But whether he'd be happy with that is another matter.

Lfcprawn. Just to give you an insight, Fergie mentioned Lingard as a player who could be in a future united line up, he's very good on the ball and loves to carry it forward.

Keane was our reserve player of the season last year and at least 6 other players could have won it. He's a fantastic prospect and looked at home against Chelsea.

Thanks for the feedback "May 21st"

To be honest, my concerns are not over the quality or potential of these players but of the overall age and experience of the Leicester City side.

We have a team chopped full of young inexperienced players and I take the view that we need a centre-half and a striker who are already familiar with the pace and physicality of the Championship.

We have taken players from the Premiership before (Bruma and Van Aanholt spring to mind) who clearly have ability and look decent when brought into a team where there are 10 other Premiership players who can cover them and allow them to play. But when you become reliant on them to perform and stand out, they often don't.

If Keane plays tonight he is likely to come up against that old war horse Kevin Davies. He will end the evening either covered in glory or bruises reading "welcome to the Championship"!

I’m finding myself agreeing with the Prawn.

It might be sensible to play our best side and mould this into the formation that suits those players picked. The trouble is I thought the side that started the game at Watford was probably our best side (of those available for selection) and we got stuffed for most of the game.

A 5 man midfield (probably two sitting and three pressing) would also give us that rigidity that we’ve lacked for a few seasons. Wellens is also useful in that calming down sort of role that Oakley played for us during his latter career. He offers the experience that James and Drinkwater lack even if it’s from the bench.

I must admit that I’m not entirely sure what the best formation of the 5 man midfield would be. Knockaert, Marshall and King all have qualities that would lend themselves to being played as the advanced midfielder and it seems that Lingard does too.

Ideally we could do with finding a striker who can play with his back to goal and hold the ball up for his partner or the midfield. That would give us an option of playing 4-4-2 more effectively, but I can’t see it happening. Is there anybody in Manchester United's reserves who can do this?

I think ideally Lingard is someone we could use as a pacy winger in the 4-2-3-1. So the midfield would go something like this:

Holding 2: From Drinkwater, King and James. Wellens also an option. I'd go for Drinkwater and King.
Forward 3: From Knockaert, Marshall, Dyer, Vardy and this Lingard. King, Waghorn and Schlupp also options, as with Danns and Gallagher. This is where it gets difficult, but I'd want to play Knockaert centrally to hide his lack of pace. Playing Vardy and Lingard allows you to change to 4-4-2, although Marsall has talent and Dyer remains hardworking and effective in is own unique way. At the very least, it provides a lot of competition and different options within the 4-2-3-1 formation.

So if the two loanees are included we get something like...

Schmeichel
De Laet - Morgan - Keane - Konchesky
King - Drinkwater
Vardy - Knockaert - Lingard
Nugent
Bench: Logan - Moore - James - Marshall - Dyer - Waghorn - Futacs