21 Aug 2023 11:52:28
2 things I have been pondering on,

Varane. He may not be the best defender but certainly looks better than all the players we have.
But would you take whatever money you can get for him if a Saudi club approaches and pays a hefty amount?
He's injury prone and on high wages. We may never get a high offer for him.
I don't have full confidence if we even replace him correctly. But this might be the right time to cash in and bring todibo or someone else and try to build for the future.

Rashford and Bruno, long-term do you ever see either of these working well for a team that wants to dominate? Yes they score goals and assists but the amount of times they lose the ball, or make very risky passes and have an allergy to hold the ball up to allow other players to move forward never really allows us to keep control.
Martial gets so much stick, so does Sancho but atleast they hold on to the ball and let the team go forward.

Our defense and even midfield is not really that much of a problem if our forwards are sensible.
Antony, Rash and Bruno are extremely wasteful.
Neither have been playing well either.
Pellistri does more things in 20 mins than antony does in 70 mins.

Honestly feel the injuries to amad and mainoo have hurt us more than it should have.

And yes I understand donny wants a move and so does brandon, but neither of them have had a fight like lukaku has. Surely they can play 15 mins as a sub. what's the point of having 2 keepers on the bench?

Where are the likes of Hugill, Emeran, Hannibal, Gore, Alvaro. So we are saying none of them are even ready to be on the bench ahead of a 3rd keeper.

It is so sad to say this but our best player over 2 games has been AWB and maybe Onana or Varane
No one else has even shown up.

Even during pre-season our second team looked far better than our first team.

And what is with rashford and only playing LW? You are a professional football on high wages. You may have to play 2 different positions regularly.
If rooney really is his idol, then maybe show that. Rashford is not working hard and that will go unnoticed. I don't think I ever came back from a game and thought oh rooney didn't work hard.

1.) 21 Aug 2023
21 Aug 2023 12:25:30
Varane, no not this season. We need him. But if we can sign a CB this summer then I'd look to move him on next summer and seek another CB signing. Ultimately we cannot afford to let him leave when Lindelof and Maguire are the only other options.

Absolutely Rashford and Bruno can be successful in a side that looks to control possession. Even possession heavy sides need a player or two who will try to force the issue and cause teams a more direct threat. Without it a possession heavy side becomes one dimensional and easier to defend against.

Currently I think the issue with our forward line is we have too many players who play with their head down and are too individualistic. Rashford, Antony and Garnacho all play like this. You need at least one of the forward line to be a team player and a link man who can bring others into play. All the best sides have at least one player in their front three who does this. Think when Liverpool we at their peak a few season's ago with Salah and Mane being more focused on scoring (Salah much more than Mane), but then you had Firmino who didn't score as many goals and was often slated by ignorant fans for not "doing enough", but in truth it was his off the ball work and his link play that was vital in creating the space and the chances for Salah and Mane.

2.) 21 Aug 2023
21 Aug 2023 12:39:51
Bruno was just made captain, he's going nowhere. Of course his petulance and moaning is the ugly side of him but he scores and creates chances better than most. Rashford needs to play on the wing, that's where he's most dangerous.

Our problem areas are up front but with Hojlund returning shortly that should be addressed. Right wing in Anthony just isn't affecting games like he should and our midfield doesn't look right.

Playing players in their best positions may go a long way fo resolving these issues and dropping players who don't perform. There are some young hungry players waiting I the wings that would put a shift in.

3.) 21 Aug 2023
21 Aug 2023 13:35:35
We continually point out these problems and our own professional opinions like they haven't crossed EtH's mind. :D.

4.) 21 Aug 2023
21 Aug 2023 16:25:45
Imagine Bruno feeding a proper centre forward! Cut him some slack he offers us so much in goals and assists!

5.) 22 Aug 2023
22 Aug 2023 19:39:58
Bruno has had to work with below average cfs . he will be immense IF we get a top striker.