03 Jun 2019 13:42:22
Manchester United are said to be offered a choice of five Real Madrid players for Paul Pogba.
So supposedly Madrid's plan to secure Pogba is a money plus player deal. They are said to be prepared to offer Bale, James Rodriguez, Theo Hernandez, Keylor Navas or Isco. Sounds like Journo talk or RM fishing.
In reality Hernandez is the only one that would interest me but we already have Shaw. I also doubt RM would give Hernandez and say 80M for Pogba, so it's a no for me.


1.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 14:46:59
i wouldn't touch any of these with a stick.

we don't need other teams rejects.


2.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 14:53:40
Wouldn't take any of them. Why should we help them out by taking their castoffs' off the wage bill.


3.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 15:02:35
I don't think we should be agreeing to any of that. They want pogba they should pay up 180mn sounds a nice number. Should fund our rb, mf and cb additions. Make the Spanish persons pay through the nose, if not then there always is the fax machine.


4.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 15:03:48
Hopefully Woodward, Judge and Co. Think the same.


5.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 15:32:46
id take isco in a heartbeat.


6.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 16:10:58
Would isco want to come though it it would quickly become di Maria part two.


7.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 16:14:39
I’d snap their hand off for Isco.


8.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 16:25:17
Yeah, Isco would walk into our midfield but doesn't sound like a plausible deal to be made.


9.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 17:36:40
The reality is we want rid of Pogba. Anything we get over £100m is a bonus far as I'm concerned.


10.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 17:36:14
On isco, don't we already have enough players who are not productive in the final third. Why add another?

No thanks to amy real madrid cast offs unless they want to include varane.


11.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 18:14:46
Rumours of us offering 60 mil for Madison. This club has gone daft. it used to be players begging to join this great club . Now we have to pay inflated prices for mediocre players.
This club needs a total overhaul from top to bottom. I'm afraid it will be another season of under achievement because the soul has been ripped from the heart of mufc.


12.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 18:49:38
Rock the red, you might want to watch some football other than United matches. Maddison has been one of the best creative midfielders in the EPL this season. He has created more chances for his teammates than Hazard, De Bruyne, both Silva's, Eriksen, Salah, Mane and Hueng Min-Son. So hardly mediocre. He would be an excellent signing even at 80m. Hell we paid 90m for Lukaku, and he has more potential to be a success at our club than Lukaku. So 60m would be a snip in today's market.


13.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 18:51:02
We would not get more than £90m for Pogba. If we get that then we should take it.


14.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 19:18:47
Rock the red, Utd regularly pay a premium for good players so that is nothing new, it’s been the case for years.
The scouting and recruitment side needs to be so that Utd buy young players who are on the cusp of making it that we then develop into what we need.

Cinderella, Pogba is a World Cup winner and the top clubs in Europe ie Real Madrid and Juventus want to acquire his services. So he is worth every bit of the £90M and probably a bit more.


15.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 19:36:03
I’d take Maddison in a heartbeat, already one of the best for his age and will only get better.


16.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 19:51:42
Snappy . I'm a Man Utd fan, why would I take any interest in other teams, Unless they were playing us of course. And probably beating us in the process.


17.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 20:11:35
Rock the red, it gives you some perspective for one thing. Plus you get to see good players and gain a better understanding of the game.

But each to their own. Out of interest if you never watch football other than United then how do you come up with an opinion about players our club is linked with?


18.) 03 Jun 2019
03 Jun 2019 21:54:39
Shappy, I know you love a stat but where do you get them from?

The only stats I can find suggest that David Silva, Hazard and Salah all created more 'big chances' than Madison last season.

It's neither here nor there really but you often quote stats that are, shall we say questionable, though they do conveniently back up a point you are trying to make.


19.) 04 Jun 2019
04 Jun 2019 01:26:11
Maddison was in the top 3 in Europe for chances created this season.


20.) 04 Jun 2019
04 Jun 2019 06:59:20
I too read that Maddison has created the most number of chances by a midfielder this season.
He has good technique, good set piece delivery and battles hard for the team.
Add to that, he is a United fan.


21.) 04 Jun 2019
04 Jun 2019 07:30:01
What counts as a 'chance' though, and how is that interpreted. Chances? , 'big chances'? - surely down to interpretation.

Lies, damned lies and statistics again.

Should also make the point that I am questioning the 'stats' - not Maddison as I agree he is a decent player.


22.) 04 Jun 2019
04 Jun 2019 10:23:05
Betty, the statistic is pulled from his "key pass" statistic. Which is described as a pass that places the recipient of the pass in a goal scoring position.

Which is a better measure of the creativity of a player than assists as it doesn't rely on the recipient of the pass to actually score. However, as with all individual stats in a team game there are mitigating circumstances to every statistic. In this case it dozen't rely on a goal being scored by another player, yet it still relies on other players making runs and moving into goal scoring positions for the player to make the pass to.

Maddison has averaged 2.8 key passes this season.

Hazard made 2.6
David Silva made 2.2
Eriksen made 2.1
Bernardo Silva made 2.0
Sigurdson made 1.9
Sterling made 1.9
Salah made 1.8
Sane made 1.3
Mane made 1.3
Son made 1.1
Alli made 1.1

Outside the EPL Messi made 2.7 which means Maddison made more key passes than Messi.

Obviously key passes aren't everything, consider that Trent Alexander-Arnold has 12 assists from an average of 1.7 key passes, and Robertson has 11 assists from an average of 1.4 key passes. Whereas James Maddison only has 7 assists from his average of 2.8 key passes per game. Which means out of the 98 goal scoring chances Maddison created only 7 ended up in the back of the net.

Now was that because the players he was presenting chances to are poor finishers? That would explain why the Liverpool full back have more assists from less chances created as the Liverpool forwards have been very clinical this season. Or is it a case of not all chances being equal? Some chances are decent chances others are gilt edge chances?

In the end statistics only tell a part of the story, which is why clubs spend fortunes sending scouts out to games rather than relying on a players statistical output. Stats suggest traits, but you need context to get the full picture.