Welbeck

Where do you see his career path? Obviously in the headlines quite a bit recently for his performances vs Madrid, and I even saw some people on twitter kicking around the idea that Welbeck could be converted into more of a midfielder in the mould of a Yaya Toure or Dembele (Current Yaya, not Barca Yaya) - and while for now thats all a bit of fantasy - its certainly a fascinating proposition to me at least

Where do you see his future? CF? On the wings? Somewhere else?

He certainly seems to be the next in line of those flexible players that can slot in to a couple different spots, and Fergie seems to like having that type of player around

Not a striker with his 2 in 33 ratio, that's for sure.

I think he'll make a good wide forward, not a 4-4-2 winger. but a wide forward

I personally don't like him and feel that he's overrated but he's certainly better than the likes of Nani/Valencia/Young. So if it was me, I'd play him out wide in a 4-3-3 system.

Harry Redknapp wrote:Not a striker with his 2 in 33 ratio, that's for sure.

I think he'll make a good wide forward, not a 4-4-2 winger. but a wide forward

To be fair, how many of those 33 was he actually playing striker in?

Not sure I can even remember him playing CF this year, seems like he's always either behind someone (granted, he should still score more than 2 in 33 playing SS) or on the wing

I'd be interested to see how he would do if goalscoring actually became his primary job

I like where he is now.

Goals, meh, he is doing other important things. And not in the way people say that about Torres, I mean he actually is lol

He is played like a second striker vs Madrid and it suited him very well, he can close down the opponants deepest midfielder, run past him and sprint in behind or into channels on counters and is capable of controlling the ball and taking people on.

The question is more where he plays in games vs lesser teams, where there is less space for him to do those things.

Still, I like the way Sir Alex uses him now.

RG said he will be playing for Championship teams very shortly

He'll play anywhere in attack. He's versatile.

However I don't think he's good enough to start, however he can cause problems for the opposition.

He's the English Adebayor but actually has work ethic.

Excellent link up and decision making outside the penalty box but falls to pieces in the penalty area.

He was a wide forward growing up and was used as a winger at Sunderland on loan and that is what i expect him to be long term.

Meh...

I actually rate him higher now that I saw his performances against us.

By Michael Cox


Danny Welbeck is England’s best chance of a proper all-round centre-forward emerging. Physically, he’s a considerable talent – his stamina is obvious, his jumping ability is hugely impressive and sprinting style is remarkably upright, with quick, mechanical arm thrusts. In fact, his arms are always in action – Welbeck throws them out dramatically to steady himself for shots, and is constantly reaching back, holding off defenders.

But when you see him up close off the pitch, Welbeck’s physical appearance is much less obvious. He’s slender rather than well-built. The more you watch his game, the more you realise he’s simply intelligent at using his body, and clever with his positioning and movement.

There’s something very careful about Welbeck’s play – he’s not an overwhelmingly incisive passer, but the manner in which he plays the ball suggests precision and care, overtly opening up his body to use the inside of his foot. When on loan at Sunderland he would frequently go the entire match without conceding possession, which nicely complemented his pure poacher of a strike partner Darren Bent.

“I don’t want to be a static centre-forward who just sniffs out goals in the six-yard box,” Welbeck once said. “I see the game moving on… I don’t want to just score goals, I want to create chances for my team. I can drop off, move wide, link up.”

He’s continued this style since returning to Manchester United – his pass completion rate of 86 per cent is the best of any forward in the Premier League, level with Leon Osman and slightly ahead of Tottenham’s Sandro – both players famed for their ball retention skills.

He’s good in the air, but the goals he scores with his feet are also very delicate. His superb backheel against Sweden at Euro 2012 was a good example, as was the neat curler in the 4-4 draw against Everton last season. A neat step inside a defender was followed by a swift flick of his right foot, sending the ball perfectly towards the top corner. But more impressive than the technique was Welbeck’s initial movement – he naturally positioned himself on the penalty spot, ready for a cross. Upon realising both Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes had taken up the same position, Welbeck dropped 10 yards deeper into a pocket of space – the goal came as a result of that intelligence.

Footballing intelligence is very different from academic intelligence, but Welbeck is one of England’s brighter footballers, achieving an A in his English Literature and Maths GCSEs. Just a few months after getting those results, he was named in United’s squad to face Manchester City. “I’m bringing the boy Welbeck in,” Sir Alex Ferguson said in his pre-match press conference. “We think he’s got the temperament.”

Tellingly, that was Ferguson’s first thought – not Welbeck’s physical or technical characteristics, but his maturity in a mental sense. It’s why Welbeck has been deployed in a variety of tactical roles, including his superb man-marking job on Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso this week, where he refused to allow the Spanish midfielder space to hit his customary long, diagonal balls. Typically, Welbeck also charged past on the counter-attack as effectively as any Manchester United player, and was unquestionably their best performer over the two legs.

The reasons for Wayne Rooney’s absence on Tuesday night can be debated at length, but it feels like Ferguson didn’t trust him. He can certainly trust Welbeck – a tactically intelligent player within matches, and a hard worker in training.

Welbeck ranks shooting practice as his favourite part of training, so he’ll be happy to learn he probably needs to do more of it – just one league goal in 2012-13 is a poor return. But goalscoring ability can come with time, as his strike partner Robin van Persie has shown. Welbeck isn’t yet close to

I like him where SAF deploys him, and I think his best role is either as a SS or out wide. I prefer him as a SS though. Agree with Moal about the more mobile "English Adebayor" tag- he certainly reminds me of a more mobile Adebayor.

I don't care much about his goal ratio, whenever I watch him, the work he does is invaluable. Yes, he needs to put his chances away better, but the work he does upfront is quite good enough for me right now and I expect him to work on his goalscoring ability and eventually become a 10-20 goal per season striker if all goes perfectly.

His work ethic is fantastic too.

He's a player I didn't know too much about last season, but this season when I've watched him, I've been impressed for the most part and the Madrid performances just enhanced that feeling.

He's nothing like Adebayor. lol The only similiraties is that they're both tall and share similiar skin colour.......

Welbeck's a decent player. He has a good positional sense and makes good runs but he's hold-up play is average at best. And so is his end product. He'll develop into a Sturridge type player in the future. Probably on the left hand side.

So he's a premfaces Müller?

Now I think about it, yeah. He's a poor mans Muller.

Just a lot more vertasile. He's basically SAF's utility man upfront.

The Franchise wrote:By Michael Cox


Danny Welbeck is England’s best chance of a proper all-round centre-forward emerging. Physically, he’s a considerable talent – his stamina is obvious, his jumping ability is hugely impressive and sprinting style is remarkably upright, with quick, mechanical arm thrusts. In fact, his arms are always in action – Welbeck throws them out dramatically to steady himself for shots, and is constantly reaching back, holding off defenders.

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When the first paragraph of an article about football player praises his arm action, I can't help thinking "well... he's certainly nothing special".

Absolute joke he was nominated for YPOTY awards. Sturridge has scored 10 times as many goals as him this season in less playing time. the only bigger joke than Welbeck being in YPOTY contention was Zaha winning Championship award, which we all knew would happen after he joined United in winter.

This is the list of defenders who've scored more goals than Welbeck (ONE OF THE BEST YOUNG STRIKERS IN BPL) this season

Welbeck didn't deserve to get nominated. He hardly played more than 20+ mins per game in first half of the season. Even now, he's struggling to get game time. Absolute joke.

Harry Redknapp wrote:Absolute joke he was nominated for YPOTY awards. Sturridge has scored 10 times as many goals as him this season in less playing time. the only bigger joke than Welbeck being in YPOTY contention was Zaha winning Championship award, which we all knew would happen after he joined United in winter.

This is the list of defenders who've scored more goals than Welbeck (ONE OF THE BEST YOUNG STRIKERS IN BPL) this season

Daniel Agger Jose Enrique

Welbeck is still young, give him a chance ffs....He does a decent job as a forward and can be used to great effect against the 'lesser' Prem teams as it were.

Nani/Valencia/Young are all dog sh*t...so Sir Alex only has Welbeck for that particular role anyway.

(not a Utd Fan btw)

Harry Redknapp wrote:
This is the list of defenders who've scored more goals than Welbeck (ONE OF THE BEST YOUNG STRIKERS IN BPL) this season

He's not even played as a striker under SAF. What are you on about? He's mostly played either behind the striker or on the wing. He doesn't have the composure to be a striker. He'll turn out into a Sturridge type on the left wing. Give him a couple of seasons.

And your "list" have also scored more goals than your beloved Downing. Or are you going to use the "balance wing play" myth on me?

ynwa wrote:

Harry Redknapp wrote:
This is the list of defenders who've scored more goals than Welbeck (ONE OF THE BEST YOUNG STRIKERS IN BPL) this season

He's not even played as a striker under SAF. What are you on about? He's mostly played either behind the striker or on the wing. He doesn't have the composure to be a striker. He'll turn out into a Sturridge type on the left wing. Give him a couple of seasons.

And your "list" have also scored more goals than your beloved Downing. Or are you going to use the "balance wing play" myth on me?

No!!! I'm all for hating on Downing but I don't like false statements to go uncorrected.

Harry Redknapp wrote:This is the list of defenders who've scored more goals than Welbeck (ONE OF THE BEST YOUNG STRIKERS IN BPL) this season

As I said above though...Welbeck rarely ever plays striker, he'll has he even played that much SS? Not that I recall

The goals catching up to the play, 5 in 5 for Welbeck now

2013 is finally over! bhends is back!

Good to see him scoring, the facet of his game that needed the most work. I still agree with what I said after that Madrid game earlier in this thread, I quite like Welbeck and I'm glad he's on good form and doing well.