SailorXY:

but Herrera was good enough playing with Blind & di Maria this same season, and United were dominating games.

if van Gaal is stupid enough to play di Maria as a no. 9 & Rooney a CM in the same game, what does that tell you?

Carrick should be on the bench for Blind to partner Herrera and Fellaini/Valencia in a three-man midfield which is the most potent set-up van Gaal has for now via 4-3-1-2. this is not exactly quantum physics.

why are we still in the market searching for wingbacks that don't exist when we have competent full backs in the squad?

van Gaal dey crase, as much as he started well but recently, the man dey smoke igbo. forget matter

Ok.

SailorXY:
Rumor says United submits £60m for Pogba.

if this is true, SAF should better donate half of the funds

80%

SailorXY, diamond midfield in front of a four man defence leaves us with two slots for Rooney, Falcao, RVP and Mata. Based on your setting above.

The other time we played diamond in front of three man defence, we scored two goals in first half of every match but we couldn't protect our defence. Di Maria got tired out after 60 mins of play.


This is your formation:

Defence RB.......CB........CB........LB

Midfield ...... Blind
........Val/Fellaini....Di Maria
..................AM
Attack ...FW1.....FW2


Where will Herrera, Mata, Falcao, Rooney, Van Persie play here?

We should try to buy at least one centre back. But why is it that our targets are always too expensive. We were reported to have gotten our 27m pounds bid for Nicolas Otamendi rejected. Valencia said they will listen to offer from 60 million.

elampiro:

This is your formation:

Defence RB.......CB........CB........LB

Midfield ...... Blind
........Val/Fellaini....Di Maria
..................AM
Attack ...FW1.....FW2


Where will Herrera, Mata, Falcao, Rooney, Van Persie play here?

Or did you mean this?

Defence RB.......CB........CB........LB

Midfield ...... Blind
........Val/Fellaini....Herrera
..................Di Maria
Attack ...FW1.....FW2

Mata is automatically out of the team while Rooney, Falcao and RVP take a rotation. Then Young has to go find another club. Or may be he fights with Herrera.

elampiro:
We should try to buy at least one centre back. But why is it that our targets are always too expensive. We were reported to have gotten our 27m pounds bid for Nicolas Otamendi rejected. Valencia said they will listen to offer from 60 million.

60 mil They should pass to me what they take.

chrisley024:
60 mil They should pass to me what they take.

nonsense... every body wants a pound of success.

Why is Suarez not flying yet at Barca? Got moved to the middle yet gave perhaps his worst performance. Missed two obvious chances.

elampiro:
Why is Suarez not flying yet at Barca? Got moved to the middle yet gave perhaps his worst performance. Missed two obvious chances.

The Falcao problem - trying too hard to impress

chrisley024:
80%

I know say you hate this man sha, you wan finish him retirement package?

elampiro:


Or did you mean this?

Defence RB.......CB........CB........LB

Midfield ...... Blind
........Val/Fellaini....Herrera
..................Di Maria
Attack ...FW1.....FW2

Mata is automatically out of the team while Rooney, Falcao and RVP take a rotation. Then Young has to go find another club. Or may be he fights with Herrera.

that may not exactly function as a diamond midfield, it can be
defence - rb - - cb - - cb - - lb
midfield - cmf - - dmf - - cmf
link man - amf - ss
forward - cf -

you see the issue is that everyone must not start, its about the best combination geared at an end product. there's also something called squad depth.
midfield of Fellaini - - Blind - - Herrera can protect the defence
di Maria, Rooney & Mata can all function as link men.
we have a very good squad Mr elampiro, van Gaal doesn't know his best set up yet & he should buckle up. this idea of fixing everyone to start anyhow is nonsensical & grossly inept

Why are you all still pushing this Diamond formation when its obvious LVG won't switch the 3-5-2 formation.

its more like a Christmas tree, not diamond. its about Manchester United tho, not LvG. he has no choice but change it when the team drops to 6th in a flash.

Koeman said any manager with the squad United parades doesn't need two years to blend a formidable unit, & honestly he's absolutely correct.

SailorXY:
its more like a Christmas tree, not diamond. its about Manchester United tho, not LvG. he has no choice but change it when the team drops to 6th in a flash.

Koeman said any manager with the squad United parades doesn't need two years to blend a formidable unit, & honestly he's absolutely correct.

I see your formation now, but no wide players ? the fans go riot.
Koeman is just taking potshots at his enemy.
Am not sold on Southampton they won't be in the top 4 when this season.
Come season end the usual suspect will occupy the top of the table

Lol. Koeman is looking for a bigger job. More like 'here I am, come and get me to fix your team'. Same way Martinez sounded early last year.

Louis van Gaal will create a winning team if Manchester United's players "keep the faith".

Complaints over Van Gaal's tactics are familiar to Blind, who was part of a Netherlands team that finished third at the World Cup despite criticism from some of the country's football greats.

He said: "(Van Gaal) makes players better and he makes teams better. I like that in a coach. That is his most important asset. It was the same when I was with him with Holland. He wanted to make the team better. As the team gets better, individuals started standing out as well.

"We didn't play very great football at the World Cup but we were a team and we were winning games, and we started playing better after winning. You change the system and you get better, you become a team and you start winning.

"If you have played another system for a long time, you have to get used to a new one but that isn't a problem. We knew it was going to be difficult in the Premier League but we have to keep our heads up. We have to keep faith."

Gary Neville, in his role as a Sky Sports analyst, has called on United to take more risks with the ball, and Blind has in the past been accused of being too conservative in his passing.

"I can take a bit of criticism. The people on television can say what they want, you hear it, but I think I have played some good games. Of course you can sometimes play the ball forward but sometimes it is good to keep the ball in possession and make your team-mates play better.

"I can make other players more important than myself. If I can do that by switching the play to the other side or wait for the right moment to do that then I will. If there is space forward then I will play that ball but sometimes I think it is better to keep possession.

"Of course, I listen to him (Gary Neville) but I try to play my own game and do what the trainer wants from me, and that is to keep possession."

[Source: Skysports, Daily Mail, Mirror]

SIRcumalot:

I see your formation now, but no wide players ? the fans go riot.
Koeman is just taking potshots at his enemy.
Am not sold on Southampton they won't be in the top 4 when this season.
Come season end the usual suspect will occupy the top of the table

there are natural fits for width because the formation is flexible, Rafael -Valencia-Shaw-di Maria can easily do that one @ a time while shape remains constant.

Koeman has shown he knows his squad very well. absent injuries, they are finely poised to crash the party

Man. United bidding 80m for Pogba?
I mean, that guy isn't worth half that price!!

DeeBoiyy:
Man. United bidding 80m for Pogba?
I mean, that guy isn't worth half that price!!

haaaa where you see that one chairman?

SailorXY:

haaaa where you see that one chairman?

sportinglife

Main quotes from Van Gaals pre-match press conference:

LVG on the FA Cup game with Cambridge:
"it is always tough to play against opponents that you perceive to be weaker than you mentally. For example, on Wednesday, PSV Eindhoven, the team on top of the table in the Dutch league lost to a team that is third in the second division. It shall happen in the FA Cup also, When you see analyse Cambridge’s style of play, they play very direct with long balls, they have 5 or 6 players above 1 metre 90, so it will be difficult for us to defend. That’s why we have to prepare very well. It shall not so easy to beat Cambridge United."

On Team selection:
"I have read in the media that he (Valdes) shall play. It is a little bit strange, because I decided my line-up yesterday, not on Wednesday. It’s strange and I cannot answer these questions because then I will be giving away my line up to you (media) and I don’t want to."

On Darren Fletcher:
"He is a player of Manchester United. That’s the update. He is the only player in my selection to have won the FA Cup. He is also one of the three captains. That’s the update I can give at the moment."

On possible departures:
"No player. I don’t think anyone shall be leaving. However, it’s the transfer month, so you never know."

If it were another coach who took over Dortmund this season, no amount of defense would have made sense for their Ekwe Sample results this season.
Infact, the return of Kagawa would have been argued as a positive net in comparison to the departures. Thank goodness say nay Klopp take him head carry. And his head is actually big enough to carry the wahala.

Evans and Smalling injured and out of 2moro's game

Axel Witsel; "I have always liked man united"


Do we need another fellaini?

How the English media come up with transfer stories

DeeBoiyy:
Man. United bidding 80m for Pogba?
I mean, that guy isn't worth half that price!!

80m what? Pound(£) or Euro(€)?

Danhumprey:
80m what? Pound(£) or Euro(€)?

did not really get it. I was in motion.

Check today's sportinglife sports paper

DeeBoiyy:
did not really get it. I was in motion.

Check today's sportinglife sports paper

Whatever! That's just too much asking price for a player of Pogba's status. Juventus are merely trying to scare away potential buyers and money-bag clubs.

Guys, what time is our match today!

Thanks.

Possibly the worst player to pull on a United shirt during the Sir Alex Ferguson reign, Bebe, thought the club was "joking" when they offered £7.4m to sign him.
Agent Jorge Mendes reportedly pocketed €3m from the €9m deal after one-time vagrant Bebe joined United in 2010 from Vitoria de Guimaraes.
Bebe played seven times for The Reds, scoring twice, but despite that reasonable return he is remembered for a tragicomic crossing show against Wolves and his pitiful performance in the dismal FA Cup win against non-league Crawley Town.
Bebe finally left United in the summer for Benfica but joined Cordoba on loan this month.
"I had a contract with a termination clause of €9m and within two days there was a team that wanted to pay it. And I went to Manchester. I thought they were joking,
"I learned a lot with Ferguson. What went wrong? Well, I was alone. I needed more experience to deal with that. In Manchester I was a child and was alone. I've grown and I am a better person, very different."
Queiroz, though, said the transfer had nothing to do with him.
"Bebe was not even part of our scouting files for the national team of Portugal, he didn't exist in a system where nothing escaped us. So Bebe going to Man United took me by surprise.
"I called my coaches and asked them what was going on, why he didn't exist."
[Source: M.E.N]

..............................


Anderson is in danger of becoming European football’s most unwanted man after it emerged there has not been a single official enquiry for him during the current transfer window.
The 26-year-old – who cost in the region of £20m when United bought him in 2007 – has not played a game for the club since he was given a 20 minute run out by Louis van Gaal against Burnley.
The former Brazilian international is officially for sale, just as he has been virtually since David Moyes took over.
However it is understood that – with three weeks of the January transfer window already gone – United have not had a single serious enquiry for a player who the club hoped would be the mainstay of the midfield at Old Trafford when he arrived from Porto seven-and-half years ago.
While many clubs would understandably wish to wait until the summer when Anderson will be a free agent, he is available for a knock-down fee now and would certainly be allowed to go on loan.
One option for United is to let Anderson buyout his contract and let him walk free from Old Trafford.
[Source: Daily Mail]

Work permits kept Angel Di Maria from joining Arsenal at 17 - Arsene Wenger
http://www.espnfc.us/arsenal/story/2259591/work-permits-kept-angel-di-maria-from-joining-arsenal-at-17says-arsene-wenger


Wenger again.