The Manchester United Club Thread **Sponsored by Comedy Central**
- Thread starter Robbo
- Start date
LOL just dont...dont do this to yourself as you on a hiding to nothing.
Soldato
agreed.
he was playing in a far superior man utd squad - i shudder to think how little effect he'd have in this current line up. to my mind he's struggling to make the bench with this current team, his style and type of play just would not work for me. and i'm genuinely not saying he was a bad player. in fact i used to love watching him because even though he could have the fans on the brink of an apoplectic meltdown so lazy could he appear to be, he could just sometimes produce a little bit of magic that made you sit back in your seat.
christ it certainly is not irrelevant, what if you dropped Bruno for him! i jest
- joking aside, and genuinely curious - who would you drop to play berba now? i obviously wouldn't choose to drop any of the current squad for him mainly because, as i said above, his style of play just doesn't fit and his 10 or 12 league goals at best wouldn't be improvement than what's already there. and also he looked like dracula when he had his hair long, that'd scare the kids today
Soldato
aye, that's gonna be a hard one to sell. even to the most diehard utd fan
Associate
Definitely trolling
Already done this to death, in my opinion, lazy or not, played in a better Man U team or not, etc. etc. he's still better than ALL of your centre forwards so yes I'd start him and who would I drop? One of the other 9 outfield players (like needing a centre forward you also need a keeper).agreed.
he was playing in a far superior man utd squad - i shudder to think how little effect he'd have in this current line up. to my mind he's struggling to make the bench with this current team, his style and type of play just would not work for me. and i'm genuinely not saying he was a bad player. in fact i used to love watching him because even though he could have the fans on the brink of an apoplectic meltdown so lazy could he appear to be, he could just sometimes produce a little bit of magic that made you sit back in your seat.
christ it certainly is not irrelevant, what if you dropped Bruno for him! i jest
Was the Tottenham team he played in better than the current United team? He scored 46 goals in 102 appearances for them according to Wikipedia
Soldato
don't think i've said he's not better than the current crop of centre forwards, i just don't think his play style would fit. you think his style of play would fit with the current team and i think he'd be a luxury the team can't currently afford. so we'll have to agree to disagree. but come one though, stick your neck on the line, just for curiosity/arguments sake - who would you drop, and don't you just say any outfield player, i want a name dammit
christ, probably
different styles though - the 4 seasons previous across spurs and leverkusen he was that 20+ a season striker but for whatever reason it didn't happen for him back then at UTD (at least as far as scoring goals goes) and i don't see it happening for him with the current team either.
Associate
The Tottenham team he played in was not better than your current squad, although I do accept that the overall level in the Premier League of all clubs has increased since the days Berba played for Spurs so we'll agree to disagree again 
I don't know how better to explain the "who would you drop" question as I've tried a number of times but will give it one last go:
Irrespective of formation, every team needs 1) a goalkeeper 2) at least 2 centre backs 3) either two full backs or two wing backs depending on system 4) at least one Centre Midfielder 5) at least one central striker. That's seven players, meaning you can fit the other 4 outfield players into whatever formation you choose, but pretty much every single formation employed by any top team has at least the above 7 positions.
Before we go any further we'll deal with the full backs or wing backs question. Shaw is your best left back and Wan-Bissaka is your best right back. Both are better at defending than attacking, AND if you play wing backs you need a 3rd DC or a fantastic ball winning midfielder to sit just in front (Owen Hargreaves is the last one you had albeit injuries finished him which was a shame).
So we've decided on a back four with traditional full backs giving us GK - De Gea. Two best DC's are Mcguire & Lindelof & Shaw at left back, Wan-Bissaka at right back.
Popular formations with a back four - 442, 433, 451, 4231.
442 - Traditional Man U favourite employed by Fergie many times over the years with some wonderful partnerships up front. Won the treble with this formation but I don't think you have the quality strikers or the wingers to beat a man and put crosses in (maybe with the exception of James who I really like).
433 - Think Liverpool. The "wingers" are effectively inside forwards who are in the team to get into the box and score goals, not to take their full back on and get crosses in from the byline like a traditional winger.
451 - Defensive formation, packing the midfield to contain superior opposition and try to grab a goal on the counter. Not really the Man United ethos.
4231 - More attacking version of the 451 with two holding central midfielders (can be deep playmakers so not just ball winners), two advanced wide men (can be inside forwards or wingers), a CAM just behind the striker working as the focal point to pull the strings and chip in with goals and one up top who has the responsibility of not only scoring goals but also holding up the ball whilst teammates catch up with play.
Given your current squad, I'd try either the 4231 or 433.
4231 - Drop Martial for Berbabov. Rashford playing inside forward, James as a traditional winger. McTominay on defensive duty, Pogba more roaming box to box.
433 - drop James for Berbatov. Both Martial & Rashford supporting strikers, problematic for Martial as he's right footed.
Essentially you need a top striker and, unless we are saying James is good enough, you need a top right winger / left footed inside forward to play on the right if you were to adopt either of the above two formations.
Williams / Dalot interchangeable for Shaw / Wan-Bissaka
Fred / Matic could come in for McTominay or Pogba
Greenwood backup for Berba
I don't know how better to explain the "who would you drop" question as I've tried a number of times but will give it one last go:
Irrespective of formation, every team needs 1) a goalkeeper 2) at least 2 centre backs 3) either two full backs or two wing backs depending on system 4) at least one Centre Midfielder 5) at least one central striker. That's seven players, meaning you can fit the other 4 outfield players into whatever formation you choose, but pretty much every single formation employed by any top team has at least the above 7 positions.
Before we go any further we'll deal with the full backs or wing backs question. Shaw is your best left back and Wan-Bissaka is your best right back. Both are better at defending than attacking, AND if you play wing backs you need a 3rd DC or a fantastic ball winning midfielder to sit just in front (Owen Hargreaves is the last one you had albeit injuries finished him which was a shame).
So we've decided on a back four with traditional full backs giving us GK - De Gea. Two best DC's are Mcguire & Lindelof & Shaw at left back, Wan-Bissaka at right back.
Popular formations with a back four - 442, 433, 451, 4231.
442 - Traditional Man U favourite employed by Fergie many times over the years with some wonderful partnerships up front. Won the treble with this formation but I don't think you have the quality strikers or the wingers to beat a man and put crosses in (maybe with the exception of James who I really like).
433 - Think Liverpool. The "wingers" are effectively inside forwards who are in the team to get into the box and score goals, not to take their full back on and get crosses in from the byline like a traditional winger.
451 - Defensive formation, packing the midfield to contain superior opposition and try to grab a goal on the counter. Not really the Man United ethos.
4231 - More attacking version of the 451 with two holding central midfielders (can be deep playmakers so not just ball winners), two advanced wide men (can be inside forwards or wingers), a CAM just behind the striker working as the focal point to pull the strings and chip in with goals and one up top who has the responsibility of not only scoring goals but also holding up the ball whilst teammates catch up with play.
Given your current squad, I'd try either the 4231 or 433.
4231 - Drop Martial for Berbabov. Rashford playing inside forward, James as a traditional winger. McTominay on defensive duty, Pogba more roaming box to box.
433 - drop James for Berbatov. Both Martial & Rashford supporting strikers, problematic for Martial as he's right footed.
Essentially you need a top striker and, unless we are saying James is good enough, you need a top right winger / left footed inside forward to play on the right if you were to adopt either of the above two formations.
Williams / Dalot interchangeable for Shaw / Wan-Bissaka
Fred / Matic could come in for McTominay or Pogba
Greenwood backup for Berba
Caporegime
This isn't a history thread. What is a 39 year old berbatov going to do for us right now anyway. Lol
Associate
Catch up mate, the discussion was would a prime Berbatov get into the current Man U team and if so, who would be replace
Caporegime
What is the point of the discussion in the first place? This is a thread to discuss current man utd affairs. Not dream teams and history.
Associate
The point of the discussion in the first place is you don't have a top notch striker and, amongst others, Berbatov was one of your previous top level strikers.
Soldato
you know you could have just said - 'i'd drop martial for berbatov' - that would have answered the question. i didn't mean for you to have to go into huge depth to defend your choice i was just genuinely curious to see who you would ditch to play berba. as you know i definitely don't agree with your thinking but that's the beauty of opinions, much like a-holes, we all got one
edit: kudos though for going to the effort of showing your thinking.
Associate
Why wouldn't you explain your opinion in depth? Surely that's how sensible discussions take place rather than people just sniping at my comments without offering any insight of their own whatsoever (except for the one chap who did offer up an idea of dropping Fernandes into the CAM role almost as a false striker similar to Firmino).
Opinions are indeed like a-holes, that said some can back theirs up with sensible rationale, others just like to troll or criticise others without offering up any of their own
Opinions are indeed like a-holes, that said some can back theirs up with sensible rationale, others just like to troll or criticise others without offering up any of their own
Caporegime
You have to wait and see what Rashford and Martial develop into before you can make that comment surely? You are comparing prime Dimitar to two young players that are still not the finished product!
Rashford would have been 20 goals this year at 22 if he didn't get injured. Martial isn't far off that either and he was out for over two months at the beginning of the season. You can see martial's game is been better recently. Scoring headers and poachers goals. He is also a lot stronger on the ball then he was a couple of seasons ago.
Associate
1) Rashfords numbers this season include a lot of penalties so are a bit misleading
2) Are you saying as a fan of the biggest club in English football you are happy to wait 2, 3, 4, 5 years and cross your fingers Rashford and / or Martial develop into top strikers
Of course you dont. You identify the weakness in your team and buy a replacement because you are a top club with big buying power, desperately trying to close the gap on Liverpool & Man City
Soldato
because i never asked you to justify your decision, i only asked who you would drop, not why. but fair play for going into it as you did.
while others may have just been sniping at your comments, i genuinely wasn't - i was merely curious, you mentioned utd needing a 20-30 goals a season striker then threw in berbas name when he was never really that type of a player for us.
just because someone doesn't go into depth doesn't mean they are trolling - though no doubt some of the posters will be.Opinions are indeed like a-holes, that said some can back theirs up with sensible rationale, others just like to troll or criticise others without offering up any of their own
personally i just don't see berba's play style working in the current team. in general it didn't work back in the day (though opinion is obviously divided on that) in a far superior team and i just don't see it working now either. i'll keep martial in for now and loan berba out till we see whats what in the summer
Associate
All fair and valid points
Ah, the days of the Berbatron: https://youtu.be/AayMUUyNHXI
Associate
Number 3 was sublime
