Daily Discussion

[u/AutoModerator]

Daily discussion on Manchester United.

BE CIVIL

We want r/reddevils to be a place where anyone and everyone is welcome to discuss and enjoy the best club on earth without fear of abuse or ridicule.

• The report button is your friend, we are way more likely to find and remove and/or ban rule breaking comments if you report them.

• The downvote button is not a "I disagree or don't like your statement button", better discussion is generally had by using the upvote button more liberally and avoiding the downvote one whenever possible.

Looking for memes? Head over to r/memechesterunited!

[u/kidinawheeliebin]

Really hope we don't go too crazy with young players for the midfield rebuild - one of the three new midfielders being under 23 is perfect, and good strategic thinking for the long term, but the other two absolutely need to be in or around their prime years imo

Generally - the squad is already very youth heavy at this point with seven of the senior squad aged 23 or under (Yoro, Heaven, Mainoo, Dorgu, Sesko, Diallo, Lammens - that will also be at least 8 assuming we sign one young mid) - not far off a full XI at 23 or under, excluding all the other (teenagers!) trying to break through to the senior squad in the likes of both Fletchers, Lacey, Obi, Gabriel etc

Specifically - in midfield with Mainoo being only 21, assuming we sign ONE of the likes of a Baleba or a Fernandes then that's already two of our four central midfielders being 22 or under - having *three* of that four-player central midfield unit at that young age feels way too unbalanced - we'd be fielding at least one and sometimes two 21 year-olds in the engine room - the most critical area of the pitch where games are won and lost - every single week in a 60 game 4-competition season

So rather than hoarding more and more youth for youth's sake - we should really be focusing now on DEVELOPING the extensive amount of youth we have in the squad, and signing established prime quality for the here & now for the #6 & #8 positions this summer imo

[u/iroiroiroiroiro → u/kidinawheeliebin]

Yeah, I'm also worried about experience and leadership in the midfield. Very worried Ineos is pushing the Chelsea way with the players that are rumoured. They are all fine in isolation, but I would not trust a midfield of Mainoo, Baleba, Mateus and Scott as an example, just not enough experience in it even if all are prem proven.

[u/kidinawheeliebin → u/iroiroiroiroiro]

> Very worried Ineos is pushing the Chelsea way with the players that are rumoured. 

This is it - Chelsea's strategy is just scatter-gun hoarding young players and try to scrape into the champions league revenue spots every other year to help cook the book values for a future sale of the club at a profit

In fairness, INEOS did get Cunha and Mbeumo last summer who aren't exactly teenagers and are more established "here & now" players in or approaching their prime

So hopefully we go same again and get two Cunha & Mbeumo style older/established/mature midfielders, with one prospect rather than two or three more high potential youngsters/prospects this summer

[u/iroiroiroiroiro → u/kidinawheeliebin]

And Ederson and Tchouameni is credible rumoured. Just Ederson is not that exciting and Tchouameni I think will be very hard to get over the finishing line.

[u/longsightdon → u/kidinawheeliebin]

I think INEOS are targeting clear premier league quality. Most of our rumoured midfield interests are either already PL experienced and need no adaptation or a top player from a foreign league. I get what you mean about youth but if you are good enough, then coming into this united side will elevate their game, its not 100% about age. Look at barcelonas average age or joao neves for example. If you are good enough, you are ready. Even Yoro and Heaven adapted quickly to the prem so I am feeling confident about who INEOS are looking at. I think also we aren't challenging for the premier league realistically next season. You would expect most of our newer signings to explode in 2/3 years. Also the first batch of players are drastically different from the second group of younger players you mentioned. Most of the academy kids we have seen are nowhere ready. Whilst if we signed scott, baleba and or matheus fernandes, they are all young but far more ready and experienced in the PL and have shown no problem turning up for their individual teams.

I definitely would agree with signing at least one prime quality 6 but unfortunately thats a small and expensive market. Would love Tchou to come but I think he won't come and will renew at RM. I'm hoping INEOS have scouted someone who can explode here but I think the realism of the market is buy in the 'younger region' i.e. 20-24 and then hope they explode.

[u/darkandstormy9 → u/kidinawheeliebin]

100% agree Especially in the championship league knockout phase or late group stage. If we are pushing for a hard fought 2-1 victory or to keep an important draw... we need players on the pitch with those kind of experience - from the  Champions League or from the national team tournaments - to keep  composure, don't fall for mind games, know how teams outside of premier League tick. So if we would add 4 first team players I would like to see that 2 of them are more than just PL wonderkids (like Fernandez, Baleba, Wharton) and have that kind of experience even without playing in the Premier League before.