From watching baines every week he is head and shoulders above all LB in the prem he is occasionally caught out of position due to being instructed to attack but I can't remember a winger regularly beating him for a long time.

Although I think Fellaini is a good midfielder, I don't actually think he'd improve us as much as Baines would.

I think people are really underestimating how important fullbacks are to our way of playing. Rafael and Evra are praised as great attacking fullbacks, but if you think about it, are they actually that great going forward? Not in my opinion. But they are so important to the way we play, so imagine having a fullback that is actually productive. It would make far more of a difference to our team than Fellaini would, in my opinion.

In an attacking sense I think Evra is similar to Hleb was as a winger. Very comfortable on the ball and gets in good positions but had very little production for it.

Of course you would think the ability to cross if a wide player would be important but Evra plays quite differently. As I said he tends to drift in field allowing the winger the space on the wings to cross. This of course is the opposite to what Baines/Piennar do at Everton where Baines will work the wings and allow Piennar the space to move centrally.

Both work but I would say a big problem at the moment for us it that we haven't actually had any kind of partnership for Evra since he joined. LW is still a major area we need fixing.

If Moyes wants to us a player like Kagawa on the left then Baines is probably a more suitable partnership. If however we want to use a more traditional winger who likes to hug the touchline then for me Evra's style is more suited.

Like I have said before I think Baines currently is a better player but not a priority IMO.

He's also 28 and turns 29 in December. He's got 2 years left on his current deal and has never played in the Champions League or at a major tourament for England.

Talk of £20m is just lunacy. Maybe if he was 24/25 then it would be justified.

We only paid £24m for Robin Van Persie ffs. And that's arguably one of the greatest strikers on the planet. £20m for a soon to be 29yr old left back is pure and utter bonkers.

Just because Evra isn't getting 'assists' doesn't mean he isn't assisting in our attacks which he does a great deal. So many of our attacks start with an Evra run from the left cutting in and moving the ball to our attacking players.

The only problem is when one of his runs get stopped and he ends up strolling back.

Seriously, all we need is a left winger and a central midfielder if we are to sort our weaknesses out.

However, I highly doubt the left wing will ever realistically be sorted out. Reason why is, it seems to be a good position for those who need game time to play. I can see, Kagawa, Welbeck, Nani, Young and Rooney all having game time their, despite it not being their original position.

All I want is a central midfielder to come in of a marquee signing, so that we are able to at least contain and control a game. It's just not healthy asking the defenders to do all the work with Carrick as the only genuine protection and rely on our strikers to bury us out of situations.

It will highlight throughout the season for sure.

Darkphoenix

Agreed about the LW, it really is an area we seem to completely ignore as if it's somehow less important and a position you can shove anyone there to do a job.

not at all sold on Fellaini if im honest, if we were to use him as Everton used him last season as an AM battering ram then fair enough, but as a CM he's no better than Clevs or Ando, he's slower, has no better passing range than either(probably worse if im honest), he's big and would be a threat at set pieces and good in our own area, but id rather give the young players a go in midfield rather than spend 20-25m on a player who doesnt really improve us in the CM area and even if he does then the improvement is minute, wait 12 months see who's available then, Lars Bender, Gundogan, Fernando(FC Porto) might well be available for nothing as his contract expires next summer and is a genuine destroyer at DM, all of these may well be available ext summer, Bender and Fernando are certainties to be available, Gundogan less so.

I'm not saying he's bad going forward, I just don't think he's very good as he isn't productive. Baines is far superior in this respect, and you are also failing to realise that Baines does what Evra does and comes inside. Difference is that when he does this he can actually score or play a through ball. There's more to him than his crossing.

Plus, I think with it looking increasingly likely that Rooneh will stay, we'll be seeing more of Kagawa on the left meaning we'll need a fullback that can cross even more so, and I think Baines and Kagawa down that side has far more potential than Kagawa and Evra.

I know he seems overpriced, which is the sticking point. But the question is, surely the money is justified if he improves us enough in this area of weakness?

It's not like we can get anyone in his class for a similar price anyway. Coentrao may be an option, but he's not as good, and would probably cost as much.

Madrid bought him for about £24m, so they'll be looking to recoup near that amount.

"I think Baines and Kagawa down that side has far more potential than Kagawa and Evra. "

I defiantly agree with that, it would allow Kagawa far more chance to move centrally.

What would you do with Evra though IF Baines was brought in? Do you think he would be happy sitting on the bench, would you sell him if an offer came (maybe Monaco)? He is on pretty large wages, having him and Rooney on the bench would seem like a massive waste of money, say they are on a combined £400k a week (150k and 250k) that's over £20m a year, can we afford to do that or would the Glazers even allow that?

I doubt Evra is earning that much. I'm not too sure, if I'm honest. I think Evra would still have a part to play in the squad. People are also forgetting that he's out of contract in a year, which perhaps helps explain the move for Baines, as maybe we don't want to extend his contract? Especially if it's on wages as large as you say.

what about Luke Shaw, agree a deal now let him stay at Soton for the year and bring him in when Paddy's contract expires??? just a thought

I'm only guessing but I would think he's fairly high on the list. Just checked, supposedly he's on around £100k a week.

We'll see I guess. I'm by no means against getting Baines, I like him a lot, I just want us to prioritise on CMs and a LW really but I haven't seen any indication this summer that we are after a LW other than Bale which is never gonna happen.

Well if that is true then maybe we don't want to give an extension to a player that will be 33 when it expires and on £100k a week? People may tout Giggs and Scholes but they weren't actually on massive wages, as far as I'm aware.

Rio is probably the only older player collecting big wages, and even then, I think he took a wage cut, plus he is actually a better cb than Evra is a left back.

If we buy a LW, we may as well say goodbye to Kagawa.

I just don't get why others don't see what I see in Moyes' plans (maybe i am completly wrong!)... Baines would be the man on the touchline and Kagawa would have almost a free role, just moving to the left occasionally to 1-2 with Baines.

I've said it a good few times now, if you want to see Kagawa succeed. Baines' signing will really help this happen. It is a tactical signing to allow us to really change our style, down the left wing.

Supposedly Vidic is on the same wage and we are offering a 2 year extension with a £2m signing fee which roughly translates to an extra £20k a week.

I just worry about all the little numbers, they all add up, like the whole Buttner deal, £4.4m for the transfer and £3.9m for his 5 year contract, or £120k a week for Young, silly money.

Ji, I agree.

120k on Young boggles my mind tbh, absolute joke that is

Ji

But why not just play him centrally like he did for Dortmund? In the words of Klopp.

"Central midfield is Shinji's best role. He's an offensive midfielder with one of the best noses for goal I ever saw."

Admittedly he plays left for Japan but that's more to accommodate Honda who is very important for Japan.

But I agree Baines could work better with Kagawa.

Because we want to keep Rooney.

Well, it could be Kagawa, Welbeck or Rooney as the inside left.... Baines allows for any of them to tuck in and play almost centrally.

Evra, on the other hand, often takes up that space and pushes the attacking playing wider. I rate evra as an attacker, but... in the bigger picture, i think Baines would allow us a more continental style.

Like i say, his signing is as much about overall tactics as it is about getting a LB.

comment by Rooney's Right Boot (U16596)



posted 1 hour, 26 minutes ago


We are champions yes, but should we remain stagnant? You've all stated we need two midfielders and a left wing.

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I haven't and even then, it's hardly a massive rebuilding project

We have a lot of young players that are only going to get better. Sir Alex made sure of it

Moyes hasn't taken over a struggling team that needs rebuilding whatsoever

i agree Macca, but on the other hand we do have 3 or 4 players on huge wages or with a potentially decent sell on fee who aren't good enough for Man Utd or seem to have fallen out of favour who may need replacing such as Young, Valencia, Nani, Buttner, Bebe

Darren

Well if we pick Rooney ahead of Kagawa centrally then I will be depressed and we won't develop at a TEAM. We need to think about what is best for the team.

I know he got us 2 assists on Saturday but man did his body language suck. I don't want to keep players that don't want to stay at the club, he needs grow up FFS and say what he wants one way or the other.

Mex

We won't be selling Valencia Nani or Young this Summer in my opinion