Modric the right player?

The Sun (reliability is shockingly low, we all know) has reported that Mancheser United have had a bid accepted of £25 million for Tottenham’s midfield maestro, Luka Modric. Last summer, Daniel Levy, Tottenham’s chairman, made it clear that Modric would not be sold, and stood fairly firm. Modric claimed that a gentleman’s agreement had been broken, which would have allowed him to enter contract negotiations with a top club last summer.

Shinji Kagawa, United’s first summer signing and Bundesliga Payer of the Year, is not the answer to the midfield woes United have been suffering for a while now. He is best utilised when playing behind the lone striker, which brings about more questions because Wayne Rooney currently occupies this position, and can also play as a left winger, where he plays for Japan. He is an intelligent player who can pick a pass and his movement troubles the opposition. He lacks the matureness to play in central midfield, though only Sir Alex Ferguson knows where he will be employed. There will be room for experimentation in the summer.

There have been some parts of the season, where United have looked far from champions. Lacklustre performances because the midfield combination had to be tweaked far too often. The return of Paul Scholes evoked a solid midfield partnership alongside Michael Carrick. At 37-years-old, The Ginger Prince was one of United’s best players in the second half of the season. The quality is still there, and that was evident against most teams Scholes played against, where he successfully dictated play. However, Fergie knows that he needs to look for a long-term option sooner rather than later, with Scholes’ last ever season being next season. Look no further than Modric.

The sharpness of Modric’s turns and his low centre of gravity make it easy for him to bypass opponents, giving him the advantage. Do not be fooled by his small frame, he has plenty of strength to stop the opposition from knocking him off the ball easily. He is a player that demands the ball frequently and rarely gives the ball away. He has made the deep-lying playmaker role his own in England, forget about Tottenham. His vision is second to none, the weight of the pass is cleverly adjusted, he is a genuine dictator, and controls the tempo the majority of the time. In addition to this, he does not neglect midfield duties and positions himself smartly, unlike a number of prominent deep-lying playmakers in the current game.

Playing in central midfield requires more than just being able to attack and defend. It requires a player to demand the ball and make sure that the other players in the team play better. Modric seems like the perfect fit because he is everything United require, and there will not be any worries regarding his capabilities in the Premier League because he has played there for a few seasons now, and so is familiar with his surroundings.

Although Modric’s stats (goals and assists) are not that great, it is the build up play which is essential. He is normally the one who is playing the ball to the wingers, you will find him starting attack after attack. Statistics for 2011/2012: 4 goals and 4 assists seems underwhelming for a player of his calibre, but as previously explained he does not have the final say, but he starts everything off. The Croat averages 2.7 key passes per game, having made 96 key passes. Accurate long balls per game stands at 7.6 (275/329). Accurate through balls per game: 0.5 (17/36). Thanks to WhoScored.

Despite all the speculation surrounding Modric’s future, he has maintained a great level of professionalism throughout. He has, in fact, put in some great performances and respect should be awarded, considering all the negativity that he must have felt when he was told he was not going to get his big club move. It is very to lazy assume that he is in it for the money. If that were the case, he would probably stay at Tottenham and receive a big money cheque.

Modric is undecided on his future. Well, he most certainly is: he sees himself at a bigger club. If he has a fantastic Euro 2012 campaign, then Tottenham will, without doubt, benefit off this, unless we see some stubbornness from Levy’s direction. The destination for the Croat is not visible. United are in need of him the most, for apparent reasons. Chelsea are also interested, but with Marin, Hazard, and potentially Hulk joining Chelsea, it seems unlikely that Roman Abramovich will want to spend a substantial amount of money. Manchester City seem to be interested, too, which has gone off the radar. If United do sign Modric, then that will put an end to the “lack of ambition” claims, and more importantly we will see better performances on the pitch.

Written by me, enjoy.

Yeh just because he isn't scoring or assisting doesn't mean he's ineffective.

Fantastic as usual

Modric is a great player and fits the Scholes role down to the ground, the only problem i have with Modric is he's a bit of a flat track bully and in the big games he doesnt dominate in the way he should in fact its the complete opposite too many times for Spurs in big games i have seen him disappear and be dominated.

Having said all of this i do feel he would improve Man Utd's midfield immensely but i dont feel it necessarily fixes all the problems that they have...

Yes replacing Scholes has always been a long time priority but i also feel a physical b2b presence in the middle has been missing for quite a long time.

Fletcher filled this role excellently for a period but i doubt he will come back to a decent level again so replacing what he provided should also be a priority in the long term.... Carrick is fantastic at what he does but he's into 30s now so he's not the answer in the long term and he's a totally different player anyway.

The other weaknesses to me are at fullback.... Evra is quite frankly past it and Man U still havent replace Neville adequately for me but signing a player like Modric will undoubtly help the midfield which in turn will give greater cover for the fullbacks who in mind are weak defensively.

So yes signing Modric would solve a lot of problems but there's still some weakness in the Man Utd squad that not even the quality of Kagawa and Modric can solve, although its 2 top quality signings none the less if they both come off and improve them in the creative department no ends.

Now if i was SAF ( considering both happen) i would turn my attentions to strengthening on the defensive side, if he does this they might not just be genuine contenders for the PL but contenders for the CL as well.

Leighton Baines for LB?