The Skipper

If our recent signings are anything to go by then of course they know what they're doing. Don't forget that it was Jose who persuaded him to sign as well.

I don't know why people are so eager to get rid of Mikel when if De Rossi came he'd clearly be our second best option at DM, especially over Essien. A Mikel - De Rossi pivot would be very interesting to see as well; DDR would allow Mikel more freedom to express himself so we can really see his qualities. Mikel is still a valuable piece of our squad in my opinion. I think I'm one of the few who are actually looking forward to what JM does with him next season.

Oscar wasn't even £25m to begin with. Imaginary numbers.

Loan out Romeu and Josh, get in De Rossi or Kondogbia. Leaves us with Lampard, Mikel, Essien, Ramires, Van Ginkel, De Rossi/Kondogbia for the pivot with Oscar and KDB. Could potentially mean we're playing 4-3-3 as well, which isn't too bad. Squad already potentially looks a million times better than last season's.

Like I said, if he is motivated by JM to stay on a strict regime which isn't that hard let's be honest - he can easily get back into shape. It isn't something that's hard to fix/not fixable at all ala Torres' explosiveness.

A Rooney transfer doesn't share a lot of similarities to Torres transfer IMO. Rooney's main asset are his mental attributes. Physically, if put on a strict regime he can easily get back to his best shape, and you can't say the same about Torres who basically lost his explosiveness that made him so dangerous over his Liverpool career. Can you say the same about Wayne? Has Wayne lost what made him dangerous? If yes, is it difficult to regain like Torres? You are also forgetting that Wayne would cost half as much as Torres did. Honestly, the transfer isn't anywhere near as comparable as you're trying to make it seem in my opinion.

And it's exactly because of that that he isn't as effective as he is for Napoli - that's the point I'm trying to make. I wouldn't solely look at the international performances of a player to genuinely analyse his performances. I'd look at his club performances and to me, both players are clearly better for United and Napoli respectively.

Apart from his huge price tag?

I wouldn't mind either, but Rooney's price just edges it for me. £25m is a very decent price for a man who can score 30+ goals when fit and motivated. He will also allow more playing time for Lukaku as he's very flexible. That edges it for me as well. Just to add that I do rate Cavani higher than Rooney, but Cavani isn't £20m better.

Cavani isn't anywhere near as effective for his country as he is for his club, just like Rooney.

We're fine this season regarding CBs really. It's not as urgent as other areas in the squad. We should pursue one next year.

Damn hope so.

4. JT's never been fast ever. Ivanovic is still a CB that can play as a RB. Cahill is still a CB even if he is a squad player. Luiz isn't going to end up playing at CDM. So that's 4 CBs.

Brilliant article.

Joy to read. Well done Barb.

Thanks for missing out my country.

That hugely contributed to it, definitely, but I feel it could still be implemented if the system and the right players were available.

For sure. Implementing the libero into the system would require some serious game time but if done properly it can be devastating. Besides, if Luiz did play as sweeper and found himself pushed forward, you could have De Rossi dropping in at CB to create a 3 man defence which would then alleviate the a few of the difficulties in implementing that sort of system. It's a shame the libero role has practically died because no manager has the balls for it anymore.

Lmao, what a gif.

Bluefire, Pizy, Tomo.

You could have Luiz as a libero sweeper, Beckenbauer style.

And that is what squad depth does for you.

That's a good shout actually. Add a good home grown 2nd choice goalkeeper and we're set for years (we can pursue JT's replacement next season).

Get him or Kondogbia and get Cavani or Rooney and we're pretty much done this summer.

Finally some reliable sources.