27 Jan 2014 09:55:44
Im expecting a lot of negative vibes
about my post this morning but what
about us bidding for Stokes Shawcross
He always battles hard and is young
enough better than what we have at
moment. I was thinking of emailing
DM to run it past ROONEY??

1.) 27 Jan 2014
Shawcross is average. Slow, clumsy and poor on the ball.

2.) 27 Jan 2014
Shawcross is decent but I think we need a Rio type centre back - and a top one who will lead the defence. As long as he wasn't all we signed to replace Rio and Vidic I'd find positives there as imo he's better than Smalling and of a similar level to Evans and Jones

3.) 27 Jan 2014
Shawcross suits stokes style of play but I don't think he is what we want/need.

4.) 27 Jan 2014
Shawcross is extremely average and will never be able to reach the levels of Smalling, Jones and Evans. I really do not understand this disregard shown to our own talents, just because the cow in the next field can chew grass the same way.

Smalling, Jones and Evans have already acheived more in their careers than Shawcross will ever, throughout his. Each one of the mentioned United players will become integral first team members in the near future, and the only reason their development has halted is due to the sentimentallity shown to Rio and Vidic.
Both Smalling and Jones have had to adapt their games to play at RB, on many occasions. This is due to the constant absence of Raphael, a position which really needs to be sorted. This has then led fans to make judgements on the players, based on their contributions to their unfavoured position. Kagawa has played out of position poorly, yet I still want him to stay at United.
We need to stop buying squad players and purchase players that will improve our starting eleven, the only player I would purchase to replace Rio and Vida is Mats Hummels, who sadly I believe we will never get. My back up would then be Mangala, who has the ability to cover the left back and offer the correct versatility. But again we should have a first team regular and then a specialised replacement, something we have failed with in Raphael.
Shawcross is certainly not a United player and before we look to add average players to the squad, we should look at our own youth who contain some excellent players. Michael Keane looks like a fantastic player that could easily make the transition to be a squad regular. I also would not mind to see his brother promoted if Chicarito or Welbeck where to be sold. Sadly though I suspect his injury could be the reason poor Will does not make it at United.

aaallj5