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The 2012-2013 Manchester United Thread: Thank you, Sir Alex


ddidiodion

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No idea what you're doing signing Dean Santangelo, he's a good goalkeeper but not United quality.

I expected him to maybe turn out as good as Ben Hamer (who is currently doing excellently at Charlton), would be surprised if he becomes as good as Alex McCarthy

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Apparently a lot of the rags, and even the Guardian, are saying we'll sign Zaha and he'll have a medical today (this will be at our new complex, right?). Sounds like the rumours have more than a few legs, but I don't know, he's left me rather unenthusiastic. Admittedly haven't seen much of him, nothing this year, but he was poor in the match we played against Palace. Then again, Oxlaide was crap in our cup match too, and he's turned out pretty allright.

The worst about this, if it materialises, is that it probably means curtains down for Nani :(

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Those Zaha rumours are too strong to be ignored now, something is going on. I assume you'd leave him with Palace this season?

There's talk of the league not allowing return loans, so we will send other players on loan instead.

Not seen any of Zaha, and can't remember his performance form the palace game, but always nice for signing to some in. Would much prefer a new midfielder.

Think we need two new midfielders in the summer now, as happy as I am with the CCC we need more cover.

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There's talk of the league not allowing return loans, so we will send other players on loan instead.

Not seen any of Zaha, and can't remember his performance form the palace game, but always nice for signing to some in. Would much prefer a new midfielder.

Think we need two new midfielders in the summer now, as happy as I am with the CCC we need more cover.

I've watched around 20 matches he's been in, he's not another Ashley Young as some have said, he's got a lot of talent already and I'm sure he'll develop into one of the best wingers in the league soon enough.

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Zaha was brilliant against us in the Cup a few years back.

That said, I don't quite know what to make of him. There's some serious talent there obviously, but £10-15m is very steep.

Bbc suggesting 10m upfront and 5m based on appearances etc. altogether it doesn't seem too bad for someone who is clearly half decent with a lot of potential and English. Similar price to Walcott and oxlade chamberlain really and they haven't turned out too bad.

Although everyone seems to think Tom ince is pretty similar and figures for him are supposedly half of zaha.

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Sky Sports sources understand Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha is set to have a medical at Manchester United in the next 48 hours.

Zaha has been heavily linked with an Old Trafford move and it appears he is poised to take the next step towards joining the Premier League giants.

Speculation suggests United have agreed a deal worth £15million for the talented youngster, who has also been linked with Arsenal and Tottenham.

The 20-year-old is understood to be heading for a medical at United before the end of the week, which could pave the way for his big-money move.

Reports claim the once-capped England international will sign a five-and-a-half year deal and will be loaned back to Palace for the remainder of the season.

Ian Holloway's side are keen to keep their prized asset as they push for promotion to the Premier League for the first time in eight years.

They've added the specifics now!

And just to confirm if we do sign him, he is FA cup tied.

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Zaha will be loaned back to Palace from what I have heard.

Looks a good prospect, can play left, right and up front and likes to take on players, very Ronaldoesque.

SAF was at Celtic last night watching Wanyama, although cant see a bid for him until the summer if there is any interest on our part.

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Zaha will be loaned back to Palace from what I have heard.

Looks a good prospect, can play left, right and up front and likes to take on players, very Ronaldoesque.

SAF was at Celtic last night watching Wanyama, although cant see a bid for him until the summer if there is any interest on our part.

Doesn't SAF seem to have a slight soft spot for Celtic considering the relationship between them and United (even though as a player he was a Rangers boy)? Probably means he will wait until summer cos Celtic still have a sort of European run still on the cards, probably won't last much longer but they're still there for now.

Anyway with Zaha the loan back makes it a perfect deal for Palace. Means they get the money now and the time to find a replacement already to bleed into the side while still havign Zaha for the rest of the season to aid their promotion push.

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I don't see the complaints on the 'high' fee for a British player, the £10m-£15m bracket is what Theo Walcott went for in 2006, Bale in 2007 and what Oxlaide-Chamberlain went for in 2011. Its now 2013 and we've paid a similar price.

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“We can all say De Gea should have punched the ball out for a corner, or further away against Tottenham, but in fact he did well just to punch the ball because he was so under pressure. The guy who got the ball was unmarked, [Clint] Dempsey was unmarked, and this all comes from defending too deep."

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I don't think he was. Zeki couldn't handle him at all. He showed how raw he was but he showed undoubted talent too.

Yeah, that's what I meant actually. He clearly had extreme qualities in terms of athleticism and such, but he didn't really shine or do anything extraordinary.

If it happens, it will be interesting to see how he can develop for us, playing with some of the best players in the world. I think he has potential, he showed that in the match, but he has to bring it out better. Although the comparison is silly, it was slightly the same with Ronaldo. You could see he had qualities, but it didn't come out quite right. I felt it was a bit the same with Zaha in that match.

I'm in a hurry and gotta run, so sorry if this came out somewhat wrong. Looks like he is destined for us given the vast amount of rumours though, so I wish him good luck here if he comes, but he doesn't excite me as much as some other potential names out there.

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The Great Dane is totally right. We have deep rooted problems where the whole team is falling back into our own area. It can't be pinned on the goalkeeper or any individual for that matter.

When we lose control of the game it starts happening and gets worse and worse. To sort it we obviously need to get the whole team pushing higher up the pitch more often starting with RVP at the front. We defend better when we do that anyway and have some of the best players in the final third around to keep it when we win it back.

He is totally right, especially about the wildly over the top criticism of de Gea in a match where he saved a point for us. But I actually think this is a tactical choice. Bring the other team forward, nick the ball from them, counter like a thunderstorm, and score. Didn't work like a charm in this match, but worked pretty darn well against City and Chelsea (at least we got the results we wanted). We're not as solid at the back now as when Rio and Vidic was at their best, though, so perhaps we should set up a bit differently in these matches.

And yes, the forum blows chunks. Are they really not arsed to fixed it? Has been like this for yonks.

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You probably say that half-jokingly, but there is truth to the sentiment, and this will be something SAF has in mind. Not necessarily just Powell, though I guess he is the best youth candidate. Then there is Januzaj and Dæhlie, and a fair few other "maybes" too. Kagawa is young, Cleverley young. Zaha comes in young. Welbeck, Smalling, Jones, Rafael, and on and on. We have the young stem of a really promising team, and it will be very interesting to see it develop over the next 3 to 5 years. It's how SAF always does it. Young talent mixed with experience. A lot is said about the Class of 92 and the infamous Liverpoodlian comment, but we shouldn't forget that team had a lot of older experienced heads too.

We of course all want that big-name midfield signing that will tinkle magic from the get go (I honestly thought Kagawa was the man, but we shall see, it's still early), and maybe we get that next summer (HAH!), but there are also a lot of interesting names in our current first team and youth ranks. It of course utterly sucks to lose such talented kids as Pogba and Morrison (for different reasons), but we still have some great young lads growing up, and I really, really hope at least one of them makes it big with us.

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Despite all the talent we have unless Tunnicliffe comes on a ton then we don't have the box to box player we need. So we still should be looking to buy.

Indeed. Hope he can become a squad player for us, but that's realistically the best he can achieve here.

There is of course Fellaini..... :brock:

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If this signing is to replace Nani then I'm not really convinced. He's supposedly a converted striker, so it's a bit worrying that we seem to be looking to replace a player who's been the highest scoring 'midfielder' (pipe down pedants, you know what I mean :D) not called Ronaldo every season he's been here for someone who's scored only 15 goals in over 100 Championship appearances; from c. 1 in 5 to 1 in 9 at a lower level.

That said, if he's joining as a pure addition then it may be a decent punt, though still pricey for someone of his age and development; gives us 4 genuine wide options. If Nani is off though then we need a proper first team signing, as both Valencia and Young are far from convincing.

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If this signing is to replace Nani then I'm not really convinced. He's supposedly a converted striker, so it's a bit worrying that we seem to be looking to replace a player who's been the highest scoring 'midfielder' (pipe down pedants, you know what I mean :D) not called Ronaldo every season he's been here for someone who's scored only 15 goals in over 100 Championship appearances; from c. 1 in 5 to 1 in 9 at a lower level.

That said, if he's joining as a pure addition then it may be a decent punt, though still pricey for someone of his age and development; gives us 4 genuine wide options. If Nani is off though then we need a proper first team signing, as both Valencia and Young are far from convincing.

This is exactly what worries me too. If he is meant as a replacement for Nani, it's a clear downgrade in the short term, and quite possibly in the long term too. Given it seems like Nani has disappeared from the planet these last months, I unfortunately think this signing means curtains down for him :(

I'm sure Zaha is a fine player, and he is still young and can develop, but he's no Nani, and as already mentioned nowhere near as big of a goal threat.

Maybe the lack of replies in this thread today is an indication of the "meh" reaction amongst many of us.

Hopefully SAF will prove us wrong (again), and this time next year we're talking about what a steal he was.

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