Sunday, May 22, 2016

Manchester United Summer Wish List

Manchester United wish list for Jose Mourinho

            So there are things that I love about Jose coming to Manchester United. First, I expect to be challenging for titles, possibly as soon as next season. His style may not always be pretty, but I’ve dealt with unentertaining football for about 36 months now.  Along with that, a team that almost always finished 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. This United team has finished 7th, 4th, and 5th. I’m not mad; I just think Jose will fix this issue. Second, everything will be entertaining on the sidelines. Ferguson was successful, but he wasn’t the greatest sound bite, and he never ran from end to end celebrating a goal. Moyes never moved and LVG flopped. Now, United has a man whose theater is almost as good as the stuff on the field.

            For the negative, there is much. He’s never been interested in playing the young kids, and if you look at his track record at Chelsea this last time around, he really missed out on top talent (De Bruyne, Lukaku). He didn’t care for it much at Inter either, and brought in Wesley Sneijder, Maicon and Samuel Eto’o among others. Now, United is on a fast track toward another group of successful youngsters. Anthony Martial scored massive goals all season, he should be France’s first choice striker for the next 10 years (If Griezmann and Coman play wide). Marcus Rashford probably saved the season with a few of his goals (Arsenal comes to mind). Jesse Lingard won us the F.A. Cup. Luke Shaw will be great (and Mourinho turned down a chance to bid before). I think that the short-term looks prosperous, but if these kids plus a few others that I think would be great for United get benched for expensive, premium talent, then I think we might just be skidding tires on a mud track. It’ll be an interesting 3 years.

            I know Jose has the 3 player rule pretty much set in stone, and he’s done it wherever he’s gone. That said, this is a Nate’s 9 and so I came up with a prettier and lengthier list that I could hopefully see putting on the red of Manchester United in the near future. 

Note: It appears Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a real thing now, so he won’t be included in this list. I’m not sure if he would anyway, because with the correct right-sided midfield, United will be on the fast track toward the world’s best youth in a matter of time.  I’m not sure what Zlatan’s arrival would mean for the teenagers.

Note 2: I know United have been linked with Neymar for quite some time, but I don’t like it for 2 reasons. 1st: Why would anyone ever leave Barcelona willingly? I get the Alexis Sanchez and Pedro thing, because they got stuck behind younger and better Neymar and Messi. But who’s keeping Neymar out of the squad? 2nd: Martial plays on the left. Martial is our Neymar and he won’t cost 144 million Euros. He’s only going to cost 80. (Up front fee was 37 million Euros, but when League appearance and National Team appearance fees are met, it would take his total up to 80).

Note 3: Sell Marouane Felliani, Marcos Rojo, Ashley Young, Sergio Romero, and James Wilson. Think about moving Juan Mata. Loan Memphis Depay back to PSV to see what he’s really about. Release Michael Carrick. This should free up some of the wages due for next season.

#9. Youri Tielemans CM. If Mourinho decides to go for youth in the starting 11, and that’s a big question, I think Tielemans is the easy long-term answer for Michael Carrick. The role of the holding midfielder is changing; no longer are players asked to intercept the ball and keep it short and simple until the shape changes into an attacking preference. I think the new holder is like Ivan Rakitic; they can come through the middle, hit a shot from long-range, and run for the full 90. Carrick hasn’t run in 90 games. That said, he was an asset to the old style, and he will be missed. Enter Youri. A supreme Belgian talent and I think he could step into the United starting 11 from day one. Think Cesc Fabregas with a little more pace, and he can crack a shot from distance as well (Made Dortmund look a little silly 2 years prior). Jose can plug him in alongside Schneiderlin and let them harass attacking midfielders for the duration of next season.



#8. Reece Oxford. CB/CDM He was destined to be a star one day, and seemingly disappeared the next. Well it was tough for West Ham. About halfway through the season, a realization came that they were good enough to contend for Europe and so everyone on the fringes of the first-team squad lost a lot of their playing time, because Slaven Bilic didn’t want to mess with a working unit (Not that I blame him). But Reece could be a long-term answer next to Chris Smalling at CB. Long and strong, he fits the mold of a new age Sol Campbell. He shouldn’t get beaten very often for pace, and he can get up in the air as good as most of them. Just ask Arsenal.

#7. Romelu Lukaku. ST This one is funny for me, because Big Rom and Jose have been potentially heading towards a reunion for about 12 months now. I wouldn’t have imagined it three years ago. Jose looked like he was about ready to punch Romelu in the face when they came on the U.S. tour together at Chelsea. He looked out of sorts, and even missed a penalty in a Super cup match against Bayern. And then he was gone to Everton. Where he burst onto the scene as a large superstar and really hasn’t stopped projecting that way since he left London. He scored 18 goals this season, with a really underachieving Everton side. He recently mentioned that he wants to play Champions League football in the future; while Manchester United misses out now, an addition of Lukaku’s talents to a front 3 of himself, Martial and Rashford could have United thinking title as well as Champions League football in the near future.

#6. Antoine Griezmann. ST Most friends of mine know that I am enthralled by this man’s talents. Not to often do I get excited about the potential stars of the world, but I’ve been screaming this man’s name since he came on the scene with Real Sociedad a few seasons ago. He can play on either side of the field, can send in a nice cross or take on opposing fullbacks 1v1, and as of recently, he can also play through the middle. For a United team that struggled to come up with creativity at times over the last season, Griezmann cries out as the answer. The only problem here is he extended his contract and put in a minimum release clause of 65 million Euros. The answer to that problem? I’d still pay that price.

#5. Riyad Mahrez. RM The reigning EPL player of the season. And I love... I mean really LOVE the fact that Leicester City is the current Premier League champion, but when it really comes down to it, the only player that I believe holds value across Europe for all clubs, is this man. Jamie Vardy’s story is beautiful, but will probably come to an end soon. Robert Huth and Wes Morgan are crafty veterans and good locker room guys, but not much more. Everyone else played their role, and did it well, but they had luck on their side too. (Kante is relentless, but I’ll be curious to see if he can play across multiple competitions). No massive injuries for anyone in the starting eleven and they always seemed to catch their opponents at opportune times (i.e. City, Chelsea, West Ham...). Yet, I would sign Mahrez for United in a second. He is very capable on the right side of midfield, which I think is United’s biggest weakness heading into next year. He is a good crosser of the ball, but more importantly, can score from just about anywhere. If United didn’t get it inside the 20 last yards, they struggled. Mightily. Mahrez would make a difference.

#4. Raphael Varane. CB The other weakness in the United squad. While I can appreciate the efforts of Daley Blind (he is one of my favorite players in the team, and in the world for that matter), his biggest asset to a team is probably not playing at CB for them. He should be holding things down right behind a midfield #6, or on the left side offering service and overlapping runs. Well, when the options behind him are Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones (who I still think deserves one final opportunity) and Paddy McNair, he’s going to be played out of position. Enter Varane. He’s worked with Mourinho before, and probably played his best football under him. This is one of very times that Mourinho splurged the cash on a young, up-and-coming player (Kurt Zouma). Varane could also step into this United team instantly, and provide the Nemanja Vidic to Smalling’s Rio Ferdinand. Of the 9, I think this is the most realistic signing, and my feelings wouldn’t be hurt if he finally made the move to England.

#3. John Stones. CB It might be laughable, but I think Stones could be one of England’s greatest CB’s. He’s pretty much got everything that I look for in a central defender, plus he has the makeup of it as well. He has a very short memory when things go wrong (watch the United-Everton match earlier this year), and doesn’t get too elated when things are going well (Except for that PK chip, which was brilliant). He is almost like a midfielder on the ball, and doesn’t make poor decisions when playing it out from the back (similar to Gerard Pique, who also rated this highly as a youngster). He can handle bigger strikers, quicker forwards, in-and-out strikers and even forwards that drop deep (watch his work against Pedro earlier this year). So essentially every attacker in English football. The price is high, but I think instead of being afraid of those expectations, he has the type of personality that would want to exceed them. I imagine a move to Manchester would make him a future captain, not only for my favorite club, but possibly for his country down the road.



#2. Jose Maria Gimenez. For as much as I gushed about Stones, this is the CB that I would rather have. I can’t explain why, and I don’t even know the right language to communicate how I feel about his game. All I know is that there comes a time when one watches sports, and you just know. It might have been LeBron James on the high school courts for you. It could have been seeing Mike Trout running the base paths for the first time. Or maybe watching Tom Brady run the clock down against the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl. It’s as if these players just make you appreciate the sport that you’re watching, but can get you to evolve as a fan as well. I’ve felt this way about 4 soccer players prior to watching Gimenez (my first defender, no less). Zinedine Zidane was the first (slowed the game down for me). Wayne Rooney was the second (a kid can do it). Michael Ballack was my third (this is a game of intellect). And Arjen Robben most recently (He can cut inside every single time, and not be stopped). Now, J.M. Gimenez is my 5th. When and if he reaches his potential (which I think could happen under Jose, because difficult but talismanic personalities are his bread and butter), he might be the Beckenbauer of our generation. The player that makes defending an art. In the few times that I’ve had an opportunity to watch him, he’s been as dominant as the greatest of our time. Luis Suarez wanted to bite his head off. Karim Benzema wanted to be substituted. It would be to United’s advantage to get a hold of this guy, before he shuts them down to lift future European trophies.



#1. Paul Pogba CDM To right Alex’s only wrong. Come home, Paul.


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