Oct 09
United join The Old Lady in chase for young Pole
Manchester United will have to battle with Juventus if they hope to sign Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski in January, it has been claimed.
The 24-year-old Poland international is one of the most hotly pursued forwards in Europe after his 30 goals last season helped Dortmund win an historic German league and cup double.
It was reported last week that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had identified Lewandowski as a potential acquisition, and was in attendance at the Etihad Stadium to watch him in action against Manchester City.
BVB were informed of United’s interest in Lewandowski prior to Robin van Persie’s summer move to Old Trafford, and a formal approach could be made for the Pole as doubts remain over the future of Javier Hernandez.
United, however, will not have a clear run at Lewandowski with reports in Italy claiming Juventus are making advanced moves to sign him.
According to Tuttosport, Juventus are keen to secure a deal for the striker and are willing to contest United in their pursuit.
*original story from GiveMeFootball.com
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Tags: Manchester United
The_Philosopher (408)
Redrich (225)
Opti (210)
Stephen (152)
Moscow (147)
Good player no doubt and the right age and a definite upgrade on Danny Welbeck.
But please for the love of God can we buy a commanding central midfielder or perhaps an experienced central defender who can stay fit for more than one game in a row.
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God pls tell ferguson dat we need a defensive midfielder.he should go 4 cabaye or gaitan or mountinho, n lewandowski as a striker so dat he will pair him with Rvp n a defender.
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Hummels or Subotic are the players to pursue from Dortmund. Though wont say no to Lewandowski for 10m or so (and if we can get about that much for chicharito who I think has fallen far far behind now and should not remain at united for his own good as he wont be getting enough playing time here.)
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Personally I think we are getting wayyyyyyyy ahead of ourselves. I think we played okay NOT great, we did show improvement though and lots of promise. I do think Ferguson is getting the personnel wrong – it seems he is trying to keep his squad happy because why on earth is Rooney playing in the hole and not Kagawa. We have seen the clear cut chances Kagawa is capable of creating- feeding those through balls. I mean how many clear cut chances did we create against Newcastle, against Cruj? We need to quit playing players in their wrong positions, that is exactly how Anderson lost his attacking and playmaking instincts, it is how Rooney became inconsistent, it is how John O’Shea became stagnant in his development! HAVEN’T WE LEARTNT? It earnest what I’m trying to say is Wellbeck should not be starting. If we are going diamond, lets go with Carrick-Clevers-Anderson-Kagawa, of course with Rooney and Robin up front. If our first choice strike partnership is Rooney and RVP, then we know the substitutes are Wellbeck and Chic respectively. We need consistency and players need to know their roles and played in positions that can get the best out of them!
Another positive for me is Nani, Valencia and Young can be subbed in (Young can and has played in the hole, Valencia plays center midfield for Ecuador and Nani- well Nani has the ability to be anything he wants to be), however it would be a slightly wider formation with them in it however with discipline it just might work! Stranger things have happened (O’Shea and Giggs, Park and Rafa).
I feel sorry for Evra; he’s come in for a lot of criticism over the last couple of years – RIGHTLY SO! But he seems to genuinely love the club, his form has slightly improved though – it just so happens to coincide with the arrival of Buttner. We do need to question why Fergie never acquired competition sooner; I mean we did see the best in Evra when he was desperate to gain that first team jersey from Heinze. That form carried on for two seasons after Heinze left.
About the fullbacks generally, while I am impressed with Rafael’s development as an attacking fullback, I still remain unconvinced about his defensive capabilities, he seems to loose concentration regularly and I fear it’s a problem that cannot be addressed as its part of his football DNA (it’s the same with Glen Johnson). I am generally also against shorter fullbacks now, I think the Stokes, the Bolton, the Southampton target the full backs with the long ball and we become vulnerable at set pieces and crosses, it was one of the reasons why I liked O’Shea at full back, and I love Phil Jones at right back!
All in all- we seem to be on the rise, I am happy with our squad size and once we fill the boots of Scholes and Giggs with effective central midfielders like Dembele and Fellaini, and Vidic, Smalling and Jones return I will sleep better at night.
One more thing- while I have gone on record in saying Dembele, Fellaini and Witsel for Giggs, Scholes and Fletcher (Possibly). I like those three because of their HEIGHT, SIZE, AGE, and of course ability! (They would be a match for anyone size wise and would be a threat aerially from crosses, long balls and set pieces and of course would “hold their own” defensively. I just want to point out that playing well for Everton and Fulham doesn’t mean they would do well at United. We are about three levels up from the likes of Fulham and Everton and possibly two levels up from Tottenham! We need players that would not be overawed by the occasion, intimidated by the crowd or suffocate under the pressure and that’s where we have to trust in our Manager and inconsistent scouts who recommended the likes of bebe, Kleberson, Djemba, Miller, Bellion, Carrol…. Even Berbatov to some extent ( though I believe we could have treated him better) but also recommended Chicharito, Nani, Valencia, Ole Gunnar, Johnsen, Stam, Evra, Vidic.
What say you?
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On Lewandowski, as fantastic has he is- he actually reminds me of Ruud!!!! The problem is we have 4 strikers, Two of whom are high profile and expect to start (Master Wayne and Robin), the other two are still learning their trade at a top level club (Wellbs and Chihca). Wellbeck and Chicharito don’t expect to start and will therefore not cause much disruption in the harmony of the squad. Bring in Lewandowski and you would have three world class strikers fighting for one, possibly two positions in the first team, it cant work.
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@One United: But then, Rooney is no more a striker. Boss wants him to play in midfield! So you can still accomodate lewandowski. Also not always all of them would be fit. Someone or the other would be doing rounds in the infirmiery.
An embarrassment of riches is a better problem to have than lack of options. Look at our defence. Would you rather not have another decent defender in the rooster?
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@jos: Arn’t Rio, Vida, Evans, Smalling and Jones any good?
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@Stephen: Rio has fitness issues and vida is crocked. our defence rests on too young sholders should anything happen to Rio/Evans for long term.
Ideally I’d like one good experienced defender in the rooster as I dont want to see Carrick back htere again.
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Like everything theres pro’s and con’s….
An excellent player, strong and good in the air which would add to our armoury, albeit excellent on the ground too. Previously formed a great link up with Kagawa too.
But will he get enough games when competing with RVP and Rooney?
And can we really accept paying all that money for another striker when its other areas that need attention…
As well as the fact Welbeck continues to improve all aspects of his game, Hernandez for me is very much like an Andy Cole….. A goalscorer who offered little until he improved his all round game then became a legend here…. Hernandez is young enough, talented enough and dedicated enough to replicate this imo…
If we’re going to spend 17+ mil on another player lets make it count…
We need to get rid of the ‘Quantity’ out of midfield and add some ‘real ‘quality’ to supplement Cleverley and Carrick for the long term…
We need a
1. COMBATIVE Midfielder (Not a holding one where i agree with SAF we have NEVER had one…. Keane, Robson, Ince, Butt where always so much more….)
2. Scholes replacement….. but feck knows how you get that ……
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Rooney is not going to play in midfield. At best he will play in a 4-2-1-3 formation ahead of two central midfielders and behind three mobile forwards. Which TBH is a role that Kagawa could also play. And while that formation may have worked against an out of form Newcastle we’d be foolish to play it against top class opposition.
Carrick is a fixture in the team. Although I worry about what will happen if he gets injured or drafted into our back line. And while he is very good in most games he can get exposed against a dynamic midfield that presses and moves the ball quickly.
Cleverley had a good game but he has a long way to go. It does seem as though Ferguson has picked Cleverley over Anderson even though personally I feel Anderson is a better player (when he can stay injury free long enough to develop match fitness).
What we really need is a combative midfielder. We will miss Scholes but we saw at Newcastle we can keep possession without him. And pressing definitely should become part of our game and the right signing could help that happen.
Our defence had a good game. But the real reason we didn’t concede (aside from the ball over the line drama) is that for once our midfield gave our defence some protection by working hard and challenging in the middle of the park.
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@colver: Anderson is a better player than Cleverley? Based on what? Cleverley was outstanding when he was fot last season and been good this so far? Anderson has been useless for 5 seasons? Maybe Cleverley should change is Nationality..
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@colver: actually we need someone like Hummels. He can play that sweeper position when required (so a stand in for Carrick) and can also play CB. would make sense to get him IMO.
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@jos: Hummels is German, he Fergie never signs Krauts…
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@Stephen: sell fergie buy hummels
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@jos: That would be stupid…. It is barely worth replying to that comment..
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I think Lewandowski would be great for our team regardless of our midfield shortcomings. I honestly think its time for Rooney to convert to an out and out box to box midfielder. He fits the combative midfielder bill perfectly.
Kagawa is a much more incisive passer of the ball than Rooney is, playing behind a lead striker. Although he was muscled out of a couple of games this season already. That wouldn’t happen to Rooney.
Welbeck also needs some opportunities upfront as the lead striker. His movement is great and he is at a critical point in his development. I really liked some of his performances last season playing in front of Rooney.
It wouldn’t hurt to rest Van P some times in order to play Welbeck. Van p’s game is fully developed. He can come in at anytime and deliver.
I would also like to see Henriquez getting some Capital One games. And if we end up in a comfortable position in Europe towards the end of the group stage it would be nice to give him a run out then as well. Although I don’t think he’s registered for the Champions League.
Chicha needs to go out on loan. I think he has potential but he isn’t going to realise that potential sitting on United’s bench. He needs game time. And lots of it.
Macheda needs to go. Same for Bebe.
Don’t know why Fergie took a miss on Dembele. Fellaini would be great for our midfield too.
Why isn’t Fergie playing Cleverly and Anderson together? They did great early last season. Moving the ball around and what not. It looks like Fergie is warming to this midfield diamond idea but I think Cleverly n Anderson with Young and Valencia on the wings and Kagawa and Van P in front of them is a good plan B.
Giggs and Scholes played in midfield together once already this season. What! How is it that Ferguson can overlook the fact that, although together they have decades of experience, the bottom line is they just can’t do the leg work. They can’t run as fast neither can they run for as long as the other young and healthy midfielders we have to face in the league. So why put them in a race they’re guaranteed to lose? It baffles me.
Same goes for pairing Scholes with Carrick. They’re both over thirty. The younger midfields in the league can easily undermine their experience by simply out running them and out working them.
If you’re gonna play a dinosaur in midfield then play one dinosaur and one young gun (like Clevery, Anderson or Rooney) to compensate. Because the young gun will have to do his own running and some of the running for the dinosaur. Dinosaurs = Giggs, Scholes, Carrick. You can’t play more than one dinosaur in a two man midfield.
The dinosaurs are only effective when they have a young and vibrant team of players hustling and moving all around them.
That said. I have to also say that Scholes is still our best midfield option. But he does need other players to do the running around for him. He still has devastating quality.
Not so with Giggs. There’s no way you can play Ryan freakin Giggs in a top level match. I’m talking vs the likes of Man City, Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid. What is in Fergie’s head?
I think it would be good to bring in another quality centre back. But maybe Smalling can step up now and start making a claim for a permanent spot. I think if Smalling can play regularly in partnership with an experienced CB he can take his game to the next level. He needs that consistent run of games to build his form.
Jones would be ideal at right back. But it seems his heart is set on CB.
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