This evening in the Football Transfer Tavern, our Premier League regulars are being more tribal than usual and are in one of those moods where they’re fully intent on kicking those below them while they’re down.
We’re of course referring to Manchester United supporters who are absolutely loving the demise of Chelsea right now with more fuel being added to the fire today after The Mirror reported over the past couple of days that the Red Devils have made contact with Blues target Antoine Griezmann, not to mention keeping tabs on a shock move for Eden Hazard.
While a few of our neutrals try and calm our United regulars down by claiming both swoops would be incredibly ambitious, the Hazard reports claim the Belgian international has fell out with Jose Mourinho and this is plausible with the player having been dropped following a poor run of form.
In the Griezmann reports, United have reportedly made contact with the French international’s agent and with the Old Trafford club having failed to replace Angel Di Maria in the summer, there is potentially room for the Atletico Madrid man in Louis van Gaal’s squad, despite Juan Mata flourishing on the right wing so far this campaign.
While these transfer targets are of course incredibly exciting for our Manchester United contingent to read, one calmer and probably more sensible Red Devils fan points out that everybody is forgetting about Memphis Depay and what he’ll bring to the party over the course of the next few years.
Dropped out of the starting eleven by van Gaal of late, there’s no doubting Memphis is a quality player and to bring in Griezmann or Hazard would be a direct threat to his development.
That said, this hasn’t stopped us metaphorically including both Griezmann and Hazard into a potential United XI. What do you think Red Devils fans?
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Click on the image below to reveal the best Manchester United XI under Louis van Gaal including Hazard & Griezmann.
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David De Gea
Undoubtedly one of the best in the business, David De Gea has slowly come to the boil perfectly after a slow start to life at Old Trafford having transferred from Atletico Madrid back in 2011.
Most definitely up there alongside the world’s best goalkeepers in Manuel Neuer, Thibaut Courtois and Petr Cech right now, the way De Gea commands his penalty area is the most impressive facet of his game.
In those one-on-one situations, De Gea stays standing for the longest time possible before committing to ground and time and time again, we’ve seen opposition strikers fluff their lines because of this self assuredness.
Matteo Darmian
Dropped out of United’s starting eleven to face Manchester City yesterday, Matteo Darmian has on the whole been a decent acquisition for Louis van Gaal so far.
With the Dutchman opting for the pace of Antonio Valencia up against their cross-town neighbours, Darmian was dropped out of the spotlight but there’s no doubting it won’t be too long before he’s back in the team.
Prior to signing the Italian international, United were reportedly in for Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne but in credit to the former Torino man, he hasn’t left any Red Devils supporters smarting at the fact they missed out on the now Liverpool player.
Chris Smalling
Our United fans have had to stop and question whether this is really the same Chris Smalling this season after the United man underwent a remarkable turnaround in form.
Now looking an absolute beast at the back for the Red Devils, Smalling relishes the physical side of the game and we’ve seen him brush aside opposition strikers time and again this term.
Starting the season fantastically with a Man of the Match display against Tottenham at Old Trafford, the England international has built on this performance and our Red Devils fanatics are claiming long may that continue.
Daley Blind
A substitute for United’s last two Premier League fixtures against both Everton and Manchester City, Daley Blind has earned a rest after playing much of the season as a centre back in Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo’s initial absence.
With that pair now back in the starting eleven ahead of Blind, Louis van Gaal is clearly trying alternative measures to assess who is best suited to being Chris Smalling’s regular defensive partner with everybody fit.
However, we’re including Blind in our eleven at centre back, quite frankly because Phil Jones is too injury prone, not to mention the fact Marcos Rojo doesn’t totally seem settled as a United player to date.
Whereas on the other hand, Blind has been relatively consistent in terms of his performances and no-fuss attitude and this is something United fans like about the combative former Ajax man.
Luke Shaw
Now out for the duration of the 2015/16 season after a double leg fracture away at PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League a few weeks back, everybody was devastated to see Luke Shaw suffer this fate.
Not simply because nobody likes to witness serious injuries but also because the England international was starting to produce his best performances again that ultimately earned him his big money move from Southampton at the start of last season.
Also getting back into the England squad shortly before his break, Ryan Bertrand and Kieran Gibbs have since stepped up in Shaw’s absence but out United fans claim Shaw is far better than those two players.
With everybody in the tavern wishing Shaw a speedy recovery, there’s no doubting he’ll be back in van Gaal’s starting eleven whenever he returns.
Bastian Schweinsteiger
In a tense Manchester Derby against City yesterday afternoon, the experience of Bastian Schweinsteiger again proved vital with the German international never looking rushed as he did in the game away at Arsenal.
One of those players who can control the pace of a game while being good enough on the ball to buy himself time, Schweinsteiger has quietly gone about his task well at Old Trafford.
Clearly focused on simply sitting in front of United’s back four while supplementing Red Devils attacks, Schweinsteiger will continue to prove important as the season progresses, notably in the Champions League where he has played so many times for Bayern Munich in the past.
Morgan Schneiderlin
Grabbing his first United goal against Everton last week, Morgan Schneiderlin is another like Matteo Darmian who has adjusted to life at Old Trafford relatively well.
With so much scrutiny placed upon new signings at clubs the size of United, the French international has done himself justice when selected.
Just one midfielder that Louis van Gaal can select from with an embarassment of central midfield riches at his disposal, Schneiderlin will have to maintain his good form with Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and young Andreas Pereira all able to emulate his role.
Antoine Griezmann
Probably one of the most sought-after players in all of Europe right now, Antoine Griezmann is still an Atletico Madrid player…for now.
A wonderful acquisition for Los Colchoneros with the French international currently boasting a scoring record of 26 goals in 45 La Liga appearances, Griezmann is a hugely interchangeable player like Anthony Martial who can play on the flank, not to mention up front as a centre forward.
A long-term target of Chelsea, United are clearly intent on taking advantage of the Blues’ demise right now by making contact with the player’s agent in a time of crisis for Jose Mourinho but a transfer for the Real Sociedad man may stunt the growth of Memphis Depay.
Griezmann would cost a huge fee and as we’ve seen in the past with Atletico Madrid, they are ultimately a selling club and with United having proved that they don’t mind splashing the millions in recent transfer windows, perhaps they do have the edge over Chelsea in the race to sign him right now.
Wayne Rooney
Prior to the Manchester Derby yesterday, United fans would have ran the Wayne Rooney overhead kick goal of 2011 in their head countless times to stoke up the excitement.
But fast forward to 2015 and Rooney seems a player who is going through the motions somewhat at the moment.
Still a class act on his day, the sheer fact of the matter is that Rooney’s day isn’t nearly coming as regularly as it used to and with the player turning 30 last week, deep down United fans know he is no longer the player he used to be.
That said, Rooney has undergone a lot of change in recent years and being the captain of the United ship nowadays, his game is much more reserved with the England international setting up the play far more than scoring.
Having been more of a lethal goalscorer earlier in his career however, United fans can’t help but feel he should be scoring more as he’s still not at the late career MLS transfer level just yet!
Eden Hazard
An absolute shocker of a transfer rumour on the face of it, if Eden Hazard did end up defecting to Manchester United, it would be on a Robin van Persie level in terms of rocking the Premier League!
Ultimately, our more sensible United punters aren’t convinced a deal will be done but that said, something does seem to be amiss between the Belgian international and his manager Jose Mourinho right now.
With the player struggling with his form all season long prior to being dropped by Mourinho against FC Porto recently, the player is on a bit of a collision course right now but make no mistake, although United got their hands on Juan Mata, luring Hazard to Old Trafford would be a different proposition.
Anthony Martial
Still on five United goals for the season so far, we are by no means criticising Anthony Martial for this haul given how quickly he has settled into his new life at Old Trafford.
Bursting onto the scene incredibly via his derby day goal against Liverpool on his Red Devils debut, the French international unfortunately couldn’t reproduce the goods against City but he still looked a threat on the day.
Having been deployed on the left wing in recent games, Martial is able to ghost in off the touchline with his pace like Thierry Henry used to for Arsenal and you can see why comparisons have been drawn between the pair.
Martial will continue to bag more goals this season, such is his clinical nature and given Griezmann and Hazard’s inclusion on the wings in this eleven, we’ve placed Martial right up top.
