TRon

Yeah that was me. Only question would be whether Gayle is still capable of running onto those type of through balls, not sure if he's still got any sort of pace at all now, since I haven't seen him for about a year. I know he has made the odd fleeting appearance as sub, but didn't really see him then either as he hardly touched the ball.

The reason why so many managers play Shelvey in a deep role is because it saves him from running backwards too much, at least that's how I've always seen it. He's not in there for ball winning abilities. If you play him further up the pitch, he will get killed in the transitions when we lose the ball.

Assuming someone is there on the end of the chances he will help create. I've seen us put crosses into the box before where absolutely no one is in there attacking the ball. Wood will look to get on the end of them, but in two games so far, he's been pretty easily contained.

I do think there's a hardcore at the club who have had it cushy for a while here, and maybe resent the influx of new players coming in and taking "their" jobs. Hayden's interview comes to mind, and we've also seen Lewis refuse to move elsewhere, even though he could easily have found a club. With Lewis I think he probably thinks he's above championship level now and didn't want to be seen to go backwards. But some of those like Hayden, Gayle and Clark are clearly just clinging on for the wages. They know they are past it.

Not really bothered about a single one of them tbh. Maybe Woodman if he's a genuine talented keeper, but the rest are either going nowhere, or on the way down. Might have been different if we were still owned by Ashley and our only goal was avoiding relegation season on season.

I'm just surprised he wasn't interested in going out on loan anywhere. Whatever his faults, never struck me as the type to sit around to be on a paid holiday instead of playing.

If Wilson't fit then that immediately solves 50% of our problems up front. He's reasonably quick and he does find the spaces for the through balls, and if he's paired with Wood, you know he'll find the knockdowns as well.

We have to find some way of getting the front three working as a unit rather than three separate entities all operating too far apart. Doesn't help that Wood isn't quick so clever through passes into space aren't going to get much joy either.

The problem with having Shelvey in a three man midfield with Bruno and Joe, is that there's absolutely no goal threat from any of them. We already have a front three who seem to be playing in their own zones with little awareness of each other. It's why we were trying to sign Lingard I imagine, so I'd be tempted to give Willock that role and see if he can't fill that space.

Gayle might be more likely to get on the end of a through ball than Wood, although admittedly it's been a long time since we've seen him do it.

Very true. Always thought he had good feet, even when he was a failing striker. He can usually manipulate the ball quite well in tight spaces under pressure before laying it off, I think that holds him in good stead in midfield. Can spot a decent forward pass now and then as well.

He's nee Diego Carlos like.

Yeah, even if he needed a week or two to recover from a month long bender.

It's because we care!

Yeah not really fancying this at all. They have far more goal threat than us. Hopefully they are still tragic at the back, and we can find someone to cash in on it.

That's the midfield trio I would like ideally, as you said, it gives you the added goal threat and a bit of pace from Willock, and with Joe and Bruno behind him, he should have more licence to get forward. But he'll have to look after the ball a bit better, I have a feeling Howe will probably stick to Shelvey to begin with, for all his faults he rarely loses possession.

In theory you would have thought that was the role of ASM and Fraser, but that's now how it's played out. ASM is more about doing his own stuff, and Fraser is usually too deep, neither am I sure he still has any pace worth talking about. Will be interesting to see if how he works with Bruno in the side, as that should allow us to get further up the pitch which means he's not so isolated.

It's strange, I always fancied him to score whenever I watched him in recent years, never really noticed him on the pitch much, but he usually popped up with a goal. But for us he's looked like an absolute donkey.

He's got pace, no doubt about that, but his use of the ball has been pretty sloppy. That seems to be a theme with a lot of our players, and obviously Howe being a passing proponent isn't going to accept that.

Bruno should help in getting Wood more involved, he should be able to fill that gap between the midfield and forwards. ASM is just going to do his own thing, so we need Fraser to get a lot closer to Wood and make things happen.

He just needs to look after the ball a bit better. He's making great runs, but is very loose with possession.

The one thing which niggles at the back of my mind is, we were desperate to get to this window to address the weaknesses in the squad, and have a fighting chance to escape relegation in the second half of the season. For the most part we've done that, but with Wilson's injury, a top class striker was a must. Wood was an understandable signing, but he's not that. Goals win games, and I'm worried we won't have enough games left by the time Wilson returns, and then we have to hope he remains injury free. We need far more from Fraser and Wood while he's out.

We signed 5 players which is pretty great in any window, never mind January. But it's still hard to see where the goals are going to come from so I don't feel safe at all.

Figured that out as soon as Man U put the blocks on Lingard. We lined up our shots and took them, ultimately just the wrong targets in the end, striker-wise anyway. Happy enough with the rest of our work, but ultimately that is a big hole left in the team.

Well let's hope he stinks the place out with his hostility towards the club. There must be a few unhappy players at Man U, there could be quite a clique spoiling the atmosphere, Lingard can certainly pitch in now.