GK. Onana. Bayindir. Both good imo. Close to the top teams.
FB. Mazraoui. Dalot , Shaw. Amass. ;barring injuries very good.
CB. DeLigt, Martinez, Harry, Evans. Yoro. Very good if fit.
MF. Bruno , Ugarte, Mount, Mainoo. Casemiro, Erikson. Good.
Wings. Garnacho, Amad. Rashford, Antony. Good.
CF. Hoijlund, Zirkzee. Good but not enough.
I've not included any youth players, but we have a lot knocking at the door, and another lot below them.
Now imo we have a good squad, but how best to utilise their talents.
I think we should have a set way of playing, and then replacements in case of injury.
What formation, tactics and style of play. I come on here and say this and that, but really have no idea.
One thing that stands out is the lack of strikers.Now I like Rasmus and Zirkzee, but it's not enough, we need two more just to cover for injuries.
I have always said that a top goalscorer covers up a multitude of sins elsewhere.
So to finish on my ramblings, we need a really top striker, push the boat out Ineos and get one.
Finally, what are your views on a first eleven, tactics, formation and style. I need educating.
Our players, Our team.
posted on 23/9/24
Our team is mildly above average. And we are playing like it. Only thing we can hope for is injury and some luck finishing.
At the end though we are as good as our "best" players and they are clearly not good enough. If we have to rely on Rashford and Bruno to lead us to anything, we are facked.
posted on 23/9/24
can’t fault 52’s optimism, even if pretty badly placed
posted on 23/9/24
I think we've improved the 'floor' of the squad recently. Now we need to raise its 'ceiling'. Either through a few stellar signings or by one or more of our attacker becoming consistent creators and scorers.
posted on 23/9/24
Hi VC, sorry off topic, but I keep meaning to ask, which do you prefer to live in, England or USA
….
The USA. The weather is better than the UK where I live.
That will be moot this time next year as the Mrs and I will be living in the Scottish borders.
posted on 23/9/24
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 4 minutes ago
Hi VC, sorry off topic, but I keep meaning to ask, which do you prefer to live in, England or USA
….
The USA. The weather is better than the UK where I live.
That will be moot this time next year as the Mrs and I will be living in the Scottish borders.
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I love the borders, but the weather is iffy.
posted on 23/9/24
MU52 no denying we’ve got a good team, is it a great team or squad with depth? Sorry no!
posted on 23/9/24
I’m certainly more optimistic than this time last year. We look far better as a defensive unit. I think the goals will come.
posted on 23/9/24
That will be moot this time next year as the Mrs and I will be living in the Scottish borders.
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Wow. Good move VC. Welcome back to Blighty soon.
posted on 24/9/24
GK. Onana. Bayindir. Both good imo. Close to the top teams.
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Don't know anything about Bayindir so can't comment but Onana is nowhere near the keepers of the top teams. He wouldn't get anywhere near City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Villa, Spurs first teams.
posted on 24/9/24
Some of your comments on various positions seem a touch optimistic. But if I look at the squad overall, it's not terrible, and there are improvements on last year.
But what it shows is how it really is all down to the manager - not only can he get the best out of them, but also as a squad, get them to play even better than the sum of their parts? This isn't about having a go of ETH, that would be the same for anyone in charge.
That's why winning cups is of course nice, but not a true reflection of how good we are on a consistent basis. I look at the squad and think, nope, we are not capable of challenging the top 3, and we don't have an elite class manager who can bridge that gap.
I do think we can be 4th, but that is dependent on ETH showing that he is capable of delivering that. But I have always felt that style-wise, this squad, whether last year or this, should be playing at a higher level than what it has shown. There are some minor glimpses this season of what we could do, but it still needs to improve, especially against the better teams, and also in terms of results.
We don't want to be the team that plays well but doesn't get results - how often are teams describes like that? Ultimately ones that underachieve somewhat.