Saul doesn’t even look that good in youtube highlights. He looked promising when he first came through, but I don’t think the hype was ever justified and Simeone’s coached all the skill out of him.

comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 9 minutes ago
The only reason we would possibly be interested in Saul is if Pogba is on his bike.
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no idea why pogba would be playing on saul's bike, but if it helps us to land the player then it's all good

You say Howson gives a good breakdown of how Saul can play a holding role but he doesn't actually do anything of the sort other than saying "for me he can" and "he can play football".

Saul is a much better player when given more freedom in midfield. In a more advanced role is where he's shown his best form at Atleti and for Spain and their youth sides.

He is not cut out to be a holding player. He's not somebody who can screen the defence by himself and dominate the ball and use it like Busquets can. I've no idea what makes you think he can.

If we need anyone from Atleti it's Marcos Llorente as he was a holding midfielder before Simeone started using him as an attacker and has more suitable attributes in and out of possession to play that role.

and i hate to burst the good news bubble with a real downer, but apparently the club is now open to letting jones leave on a free (presumably because he feels he can't handle the competition from varane)

I genuinely feel so sorry for Phil Jones, even if he has been stealing a living for years.

comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 1 minute ago
and i hate to burst the good news bubble with a real downer, but apparently the club is now open to letting jones leave on a free (presumably because he feels he can't handle the competition from varane)
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Uh. Varane is the signing to help Jones fulfill his potential kinda like how Telles was to Shaw.

Come on son.

comment by Jadon The King Sancho (U10026)
posted 4 seconds ago
I genuinely feel so sorry for Phil Jones, even if he has been stealing a living for years.
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Same. Imagine joining United at the age he did, being talked up as a great prospect, and then barely being able to play. A real shame no matter what he earns.

comment by The Red Side™ (U11275)
posted 6 minutes ago
You say Howson gives a good breakdown of how Saul can play a holding role but he doesn't actually do anything of the sort other than saying "for me he can" and "he can play football".

Saul is a much better player when given more freedom in midfield. In a more advanced role is where he's shown his best form at Atleti and for Spain and their youth sides.

He is not cut out to be a holding player. He's not somebody who can screen the defence by himself and dominate the ball and use it like Busquets can. I've no idea what makes you think he can.

If we need anyone from Atleti it's Marcos Llorente as he was a holding midfielder before Simeone started using him as an attacker and has more suitable attributes in and out of possession to play that role.
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Wrong video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOm8rKMmrqk

comment by ... (U22638)
posted 9 minutes ago
It's an interesting thought, but not going to come off. Ole has tremendous faith in McTominay and he's going to be the sitting player.

Tripper/wan Bissaka and Shaw will be the wing backs and push up very high. This means Varane and Maguire may get exposed on counter attacks down their side.

The idea is to have McTominay play a holding midfield role and be able to drop into defence to form a 3 should such a counter occur. That way Varane/Maguire can push out wide, prevent a counter and give the wing backs time to get back into position. Then they slip back into defence and Scott comes forward again to shield the back line.

Very similar to how he's been playing for Scotland but with an urge to get out of the defensive 3 as soon as is viable.

2 of Bruno, Lingard, Pogba and van de Beek will make up our midfield 3 with Scott - first choice being Pogba and Bruno with van de Beek as the reserve initially and Lingard deployed in the position if required (though he's mainly going to be Sancho's cover).

Sancho will play a free role behind a front two and be able to join the attack either centrally or from the flanks, as well as drop into midfield to give us an extra man in there should we need at any point.

Cavani, Rashford and Greenwood are the strikers. Marcus is obviously out for a few months so Dan James will be back up to Edinson and Mason in the early season.
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I’ve heard that Solskjær wants McTominay in a more advanced role this season, after a promising goal return last year?

comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 7 minutes ago
and i hate to burst the good news bubble with a real downer, but apparently the club is now open to letting jones leave on a free (presumably because he feels he can't handle the competition from varane)
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FFS if we release him that'll be our transfer budget gone.

Yeah must be horrible for him. I’ve never rated him that highly, even when he was fit, but he was a very promising young defender when we signed him. He had the opportunity to play and develop at the biggest club in the land, under the gratest manager of all time, and it all just fluttered away. And now he can’t even get on the pitch. I don’t care how much you earn or how mentally strong you are, that’s got to be tough to take.

Thing about jones is, in amongst all the comedy facial expressions & defending like a grounded haddock, there has been some real good performances, on his day & when fully fit he’s 10x the defender Lindelof is

But those days are few and far between

comment by The Red Side™ (U11275)
posted 2 minutes ago
Stephen Howson

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In fairness, if you aren't familiar with a player, you will tend to look for informed opinions and whether that's someone on YouTube or not, an in depth explanation which references data etc to back up what is being said then that's significantly more convincing than a raspberry blowing emoji or whatever that is.

From what I've seen of Saul, my general opinion was always that he was a midfielder in the sort of Herrera mould. Tenacious, box to box, but if an all rounder but has the discipline to play more defensively or more offensively. He could play as an 8 or a 6 with the right instruction and I'm sure he's even been deployed on the wing by Simeone. I don't know why exactly but I always assumed it was because he wanted a more defensively sound person out wide, but also with the ability to progress with the ball and create/score without being an out and out winger.

So if someone is able to give any sort of at least seemingly informed breakdown to counter that, I'd personally be interested in reading it because whilst I get notifications of Ateltico's results and highlights, I don't watch full 90 minutes outside of CL so I don't have a confident understanding of his overall strengths, weaknesses and tendencies.

comment by Jadon The King Sancho (U10026)
posted 22 seconds ago
Yeah must be horrible for him. I’ve never rated him that highly, even when he was fit, but he was a very promising young defender when we signed him. He had the opportunity to play and develop at the biggest club in the land, under the gratest manager of all time, and it all just fluttered away. And now he can’t even get on the pitch. I don’t care how much you earn or how mentally strong you are, that’s got to be tough to take.
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I think he looked good in his first season (including away from CB) and for a spell in Jose’s first season, as I recall. Only the odd game beyond that though really.

Yeah he was good, more so the second season when he cut out those marauding runs that left him caught up the pitch. I just didn’t rate him as highly as he was hyped to be - and there was some hype behind him - despite him having the potential to be a quality defender.

There’s another universe where Smalling and Jones became our Rio and Vidic. Sounds silly now but there was that kind of expectation around them, and to an extent you can understand why when you saw their first couple of seasons. Smalling in particular, it amazes me how bad he became on the ball. He was really comfortable on it when he first joined us.

Even playing alongside Rojo he looked far more assured than Lindelof, the only thing he has going for him is staying fit, should be a back up at best

If we want a dm in the style of Busquets I’d actually try and test Barca’s resolve with a bid for Busquets.

I don't think Howson really knows what he's talking about in that video either.

Saul isn't a very good progressor of the ball, certainly not near the level of Barcelona's midfielders. In fact he ranks below average in progressive actions in La Liga last season. He's not a ball dominant midfielder and like Busquets in any sense.

If you restrict him by using him in a deeper more disciplined role, you're taking away some of his best qualities which are making attacking runs and getting into shooting positions in the box. He's kind of like VdB in that sense although not as good.

comment by Jadon The King Sancho (U10026)
posted 6 minutes ago
If we want a dm in the style of Busquets I’d actually try and test Barca’s resolve with a bid for Busquets.
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Dunno if I could tolerate watching him laid on the floor holding his face while peeping through his fingers

comment by Jed Maxwell (U1449)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Jadon The King Sancho (U10026)
posted 6 minutes ago
If we want a dm in the style of Busquets I’d actually try and test Barca’s resolve with a bid for Busquets.
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Dunno if I could tolerate watching him laid on the floor holding his face while peeping through his fingers
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Bruno was brought in to get you accustomed to it.

comment by The Red Side™ (U11275)
posted 5 minutes ago
I don't think Howson really knows what he's talking about in that video either.

Saul isn't a very good progressor of the ball, certainly not near the level of Barcelona's midfielders. In fact he ranks below average in progressive actions in La Liga last season. He's not a ball dominant midfielder and like Busquets in any sense.

If you restrict him by using him in a deeper more disciplined role, you're taking away some of his best qualities which are making attacking runs and getting into shooting positions in the box. He's kind of like VdB in that sense although not as good.
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Better not call Saul, then

In fairness, if you aren't familiar with a player, you will tend to look for informed opinions and whether that's someone on YouTube or not, an in depth explanation which references data etc to back up what is being said then that's significantly more convincing than a raspberry blowing emoji or whatever that is.

----------------------------------------------

It's probably advisable to get the opinion of somebody other than Stephen Howson or anybody else who works for one of United's fan channels because most of them don't seem to be very knowledgeable when it comes to football.

comment by Jadon The King Sancho (U10026)
posted 6 minutes ago
comment by Jed Maxwell (U1449)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Jadon The King Sancho (U10026)
posted 6 minutes ago
If we want a dm in the style of Busquets I’d actually try and test Barca’s resolve with a bid for Busquets.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dunno if I could tolerate watching him laid on the floor holding his face while peeping through his fingers
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bruno was brought in to get you accustomed to it.
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I don't think we can handle that class of theatrics Busquets would bring to the team.

Manchester School of Theatre will have gained an excellent adjunct professor at least.

Fast-moving one, this: United have agreed personal terms with Raphael Varane and almost there on club agreement. Deal all but done #mufc

Samuel Luckhurst

Howson is practically Pep Guardiola when you compare him to that berk Goldbridge though.....