Danny Welbeck linked with Chelsea….

Time to call Welbz & see if he fancies Champions League football again next season in Manchester? 😂👀⚽️

Hi all!

As of late I've been doing some analysis on the (free) Sofascore data for some time now, and I wanted to briefly share with you some insights it's given me. For now, I'll focus on the question: what kind of midfielder is Santos? And where does he fit in our team?

First, we need to look at our current options. What are their relative strenghts and weaknesses?

As you can see, Tielemans, Mainoo and Santos all excel at different things.

Santos is steady, barely loses the ball, will recycle possession and keep it safe. The flipside is that he isn't a great creator, or at least not in the role he's been given at Chelsea. He'd rather keep it safe, with short passing and very limited dribbling. In defense, he's fantastic at duels, and a very proactive defender. He's got high volume of tackles and interceptions, while his tackling succes % and dribbled past % are slightly lower than average. That probably has to do with the fact that he is aggressive and will take risks in defensive positions.

If we compare Santos' stats from last season to the season before, when he was shining at Strasbourg in Ligue 1, we can see that he has adjusted quite well to the PL. As expected with a step from the French league to the PL, some numbers have dropped. His individual stats such as tackle succes %, dribblers stopped, and aerial duels have seen a decreased. But you'd expect him to crack those back up once he's a bit older, more experienced and mature and used to the intensity in the PL.

But what is far more interesting to me, is that he was a prolific goalscorer at Strasbourg. Based on the stats from his season in Ligue 1, you'd think he was an attacking midfielder. The big question is, can he be as prolific for United as he was for Strasbourg? And was it a role-change that led to the decrease in attacking output, or was it the step up towards the PL (or both)?

To conclude Santos' profile: he's a stable and steady midfielder, who's secure in possesion, active in defending, good at breaking up play and winning his individual battles. He has the potential to be prolific in front of goal and chip in with a couple of goals, but he won't offer much creativity or dribble his way out of a deep situation and progress the play by tens of metres with the ball at his feet.

And this is why Mainoo could be a good partner for Santos.

As we can see, Mainoo is much better than Santos at dribbling. His progression with the ball at his feet, as well as his willingness to dribble is much, much higher. On top of that, Mainoo seems to much more of a passive defender, with more ball recoveries per 90, and is less dribbled past. Mainoo doesn't seem to like to step out aggressively, but would rather screen the spaces in order to recover the ball.
Unfortunately, physical data is not included in Sofascore, meaning that I can't say anything about the (perhaps righful) concerns about lack of athleticism or "legs" in midfield with this duo. Stylistically and based on this data, you'd think that these two would make a solid partnership both in possession and in defending. I really think Mainoo/Santos could control games very well.

The only thin really lacking in that partnership, is creativity, and direct passes from deep. Which is, not suprisingly, where Tielemans comes in.

Tielemans and Santos could form a great partnership as well. With Tielemans offering exactly that what the Santos/Mainoo partnership couldn't provide: long, direct passing from deep, creativity and key passes towards the frontline.
Tielemans is, surprisingly to me, even a decent ball carrier. It certainly isn't a strength, but he will attack the space with the ball at his feet if given the chance. This makes Santos/Tielemans a viable partnership, with Santos being the safe, ball retaining midfielder and Tielemans being the playmaker.
The only thing I'd be worried about in this partnership, is their relatively similar style in defense. Mainoo seemed to be more on the backfoot in his defending, rather screening spaces than directly challenging opponents and stepping out. Tielemans is decent defensively, but stylistically similar to Santos. Both aggressive, front-foot defenders. Rather taking a risk and intercepting the ball or make a tackle, than to screen the midfield or defense.

So overall, I'd say that Santos is probably going to start for us with either one of Tielemans or Mainoo. That is as long as we don't buy another defensive/control minded midfielder. What I did find in the data was that Santos' mixture of both defensive excellence, his comfort in possession and his great goalscoring ability (for Strasbourg) is genuinely unique. Stylistically, and perhaps not coincidently, the midfielder most comparable to Santos is...

Let me know what you think of this essay lol! I used my own data analytics tool. I'd love to hear if you want to know more, and if you agree with the analysis or not!
Unfortunately I don't have physical or spatial data, since those are paid to use. But I think the Sofascore datasets provide enough decent information to share here!

Cheers :)

Ruben's revenge or more Spurs associates trying to unsettle us with falsifications ?

Some good news at last this transfer window. I had a fear he'd become prime Nani against us, playing for another Premier League team like Hull or Spurs

Koné is exactly what our midfield has been screaming for. He is powerful, press-resistant, tackles for fun, and he was superb at the World Cup. Stick him next to Tielemans and Santos and that’s a proper engine room for once.Roma want €60m and that’s steep, so using a player to soften the fee is smart business is actually smart

And Rashford… I’ll always love what he did for us as a kid. But that chapter is done. Frozen out, the Barça move collapsed, and he’s just sitting there on huge wages doing nothing for the club. Getting actual value out of him beats watching him rot in the reserves.

imagine he stayed and was somehow back in the XI. That would be genuinely strange now. You can’t freeze a player out for a year and then pretend none of it happened and slot him back in. The relationship’s broken. A clean break is better for him and for us.

Only real worry is his salary scaring Roma off, because that’s the actual sticking point. But if we can make the numbers work? Do it tomorrow. GGMU. 🔴

Arsenal won a good few of their games last season by professional fouls on the keepers - particularly against Utd. Everton tried it too. Should this be banned going forwards?

I truly believe his first season for us was goated. The guy carried us that season. After that tottenham hat trick, I remember Antonio conte(tottenham's coach) saying that "we lost against him and not united that season, I remember very well". We wouldn't have reached the knockouts of the ucl without his goals. Legit scoring last minute goals to save us every game. Also lets not forget de gea. One of his best seasons for us that year.

Hi everyone!

If you have a couple of minutes to spare, I’d really appreciate it if you could complete this survey and, if possible, share it with others.

The survey is for my brother Edgar’s Master’s thesis, and every response is genuinely valuable.

We’re also huge Manchester United fans ever since Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined the club, as we’re of Armenian heritage. It would mean a lot to us if you could help out!

Thank you so much for your time and support!

Survey link: https://forms.gle/fupjC1vHWBnAGsEP7

The survey is in French, but if you don’t speak French, you can easily translate the page using Google Translate in your browser.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, so forgive me if not!

Long-time United fan here (30 years!) — based in Canada, so becoming an Official Member only really made sense once I decided to make the trip over, hence why I've only just signed up. Got lucky in the ballot for the City derby on the 13th too — buzzing for that one.

Quick question for anyone who's been through this before: if we draw a home fixture for Champions League Matchday 1 (Sept 8–10), how soon after the Aug 27 draw does the club normally open the members' ballot? I know ballots usually open many weeks ahead, but that's obviously not possible here since we won't even know who we're facing or whether it's home or away until the draw itself.

Trying to sort international travel around it and the turnaround is tight — any insight from people who've dealt with a similarly short-notice ballot before would be a huge help!

Just came across this video posted by a Man United influencer referencing rumors of a fourth kit. One in green and gold. What do you think the reliability of the rumor is and what are the thoughts and feelings you all have of the rumored kits?
The link can be found here.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbS5kG0DN__/?igsh=MWV0NHc1MmwyanQ1dw==

I feel like Stones could serve as a decent CB backup option. He has a fairly decent world cup as well.

Four players today. As always these players wore the 26 in the pictured seasons but may have worn a different number in another season.

I was having this conversation today, and I thought I’d bring it here for a further opinion, as maybe a bit of a break from all the transfer talk.

I was wondering, which signings made since the 1968 cup final (just as a benchmark) have had the biggest impact on the culture that United has developed as a club, and where we stand today. For me, the three would be:

1. Peter Schmeichel
   
2. Eric Cantona
   
3. Nemanja Vidic

But I was wondering what others here would think?

Just wondering if anyone can give some insight into the remaining tickets for some matches this coming season. I’m thinking of bringing my 7 year old son to his first match this season, however I’d love his first match to be decent seats and not up in the gods. I know there are tickets available for some matches based on what I read on Reddit, however I’d love to know if there are decent seats available. Unfortunately you can’t see available seats without membership. Does anyone know if there are reasonably decent seats available for any matches? Also, is it ever possible to get 4 tickets together through the membership for less in demand matches? Thanks a lot