Mails: United should try ditching their wingers

Mails: United should try ditching their wingers

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United should ditch their wingers
Good result for United on Wednesday, but I still feel they could get more with a bit of a tactical change. United were defined in the past as having fast exciting wingers, but with an absolute absence of these right now, why are they pushing this through still? Their best wing options are Mata (number 10), Rashford (Striker), or Memphis (actual winger, actually pants). Why not just ditch it all together and play more of their extensive supply of midfielders, and give them a bit of freedom?

A midfield 5 of Schneiderlin, Pogba, Herrera, Mata and Mkhitaryan would overwhelm most teams, they’ve got the touch and speed of passing to cope with the “congestion” that is the usual complaint here.

There’s nothing stopping them going 442,433,4231 etc in defence, these players are all skilled enough to press full backs, and if Mata is quick enough to play wide so are the rest of them.

With Ibrahimovic working as a high pivot point for the players to run off of they’d be able to make a variety of opportunities with many defences unable to cope.

Much like how Liverpool ditched having a “striker” to improve their attack, United could ditch wingers and end up in control of much more matches.
KC (they must be a dream to manage on FM17)

Stinky double standards
Why isn’t more being made of Adrian’s studs up knee high Mortal Kombat move on Zlatan last night? That’s the 3rd time this season a United player has been fouled recklessly and not been fully punished. In October David Luiz committed a near identical foul on Felliani and received only a yellow card. Back in September the Man City goalkeeper Bravo lunged in studs up on Wayne Rooney and received no punishment. This comes only a year after Hector Moreno’s idiotic tackle on Luke Shaw also went unpunished and has potentially ruined the youngsters career ( he’s now a shadow of the player he once was )

Compare this with the media outrage when Jose Mourinho kicked a bottle? You couldn’t move for articles decrying the “Angry One”. Why wouldn’t he be angry witnessing his players receive no protection from incompetent officialdom?

Its double standards. And it stinks.
Rob Melia

Still laughing at United
Can we please all take a second and laugh at Manchester United. Who owns that club White Star Line?

With his beard and recent play Rooney is literally becoming the homeless Wayne Rooney from the 2010 World Cup advert, while Man United have won more games with Mourinho off the touchline than on it.

West Ham were shambolic last night, especially at the back and United fans are going off as if they won league.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Brian (Lovely, lovely stuff) LFC

We have great full-backs
Just read your 16 conclusions on the EFL Cup which has kinda cemented a view I have been forming for a while now – namely, we (England) are incredibly good at producing full backs at the moment.

You read about Trent Alexander-Arnold and Charlie Taylor and hear they are exciting young talents. Oooh, thats good news, potential Prem stars, possibly even future England internationals! And then you hear they played in the full back positions. *Sigh*, not another one. This happens most years when the Prem sides put out some of their reserves in the EFL Cup.

Your article even mentioned full backs who weren’t even involved in the EFL Cup, such is the level of competition for places in those two positions.

Often you look at a ‘top’ club side and the only England qualified player on the pitch is a full back. Maybe one other player if you are lucky.

It is notable that your England Ladders usually contain 427 fullbacks, a couple of goalkeepers and Phil Neville (and Rooney for #bantz).

I actually think we are blessed in these positions and the proof is in how they perform with their club sides. Individually they may underwhelm to an extent, but when surrounded by talented team mates, they fit seamlessly into the play and can look exciting and dangerous on the attack. Yet this often disappears when playing for England, maybe in part because their team mates are simply of a slightly lower standard to that of their club sides.

I honestly think that if England had a similar level of competition for places in other positions we wouldn’t be far off the top in international terms. I am not saying that having a combo of Walker, Clyne and Shaw operating in central midfield would suddenly make us favourites for the World Cup, but if there were players of an equivalent standard and depth in other positions on the field then we would be a totally different beast to that Gareth Southgate has to work with currently.

So why is it that we produce so many in these positions? Is it because the role entails lots of hard running and following simple tactical instructions, something we have in abundance, whilst requiring relatively little craft and guile. Thus, PL managers can ‘trust’ English players in these positions, but not in the more vital and influential roles in the middle of the park (entrusting them to ‘bloody foreigners-coming over here and taking our jobs’)?

Maybe we are just in a ‘golden age’ of fullbacks at the moment. But it is just frustrating from an England point of view – and maybe more damning of our coaching and general standard of play in this country.
Rob (Part of the Full Backs Union since 1989), Leicester

Was Rafa a trailblazer?
I just read Nick Miller’s enjoyable article on Rafa’s rant. I enjoyed reading about it much more than I enjoyed watching it at the time. If he’d just waxed lyrical on Fergie’s perceived light treatment then I’m sure it would’ve simply held the news for a weekend but pulling out the sheet of paper out made sure it would go down as pivotal premier league melt down, still talked about to this day.

Looking back on it now, though, I can’t help but think Rafa was a trailblazer – channeling all our frustrations at the modern post-factual world we live in. You can just imagine Jeremy Corbyn doing something similar.

Rafa wasn’t so much riled by Fergie but riled by the media swooning over Fergie. He was kicking against the concept of the pre-determined media narrative response. It just so happens that’s exactly what went wrong for him on this occasion too.
Saminho

Doing a Kante
Quick game for the afternoon inspired by Kante’s possible back to back premierships with different teams.

Can we think of other players to have done this (winning the same league twice in a row with different teams)?.

All I can think of is Zlatan (even though technically his Juve medals were revoked), and Cantona (again, can be ruled out on a technicality due to change of format).

Enjoy,
Conor (LFC)

The dark arts
Supporting a side which once boasted the skulduggery of Jens Lehmann and Robert Pires, I can certainly understand how Adonis Stevenson, AFC knows a dark art or two when he sees them……
Matthew Partridge, Reading

 

To Paul
Morning,

Could you pass on my condolences to Paul. His second letter stopped me in my tracks when I read it. I don’t know what you must be feeling, but keep your chin up and remember the good times with your old man.

Ta
Chris