Does Wout Weghorst Fix Manchester United's Striker Problem?

Welcome back to The Talking Point, ladies and gentlemen of the show where we bring you guys in on the conversation. I've got Jo Thomlinson here joining me and of course we've got guests in the studio. Mina, how are you doing? I'm good, good guys. Hope you lot are doing well too. Amazing. Very well, thank you. Very well. Now we're here to talk about a certain, soon to be Manchester United player. Six foot six. Can you believe it? After five years, five years ago, Jo Thomlinson found a player in the wilderness. Nobody had seen him. Six foot six. It's been a long time coming. It's been a long time coming, Jo, isn't it? He is six foot six, by the way. Anybody who watched those original Football Daily podcasts, Sunday Vibes, Extra Time, will know of my love affinity with big six foot six. Woot. Of course. The hardest working goal scoring machine the world has ever seen. I love it. This guy's bringing grace, decorum and goals to Old Trafford. Okay, well you heard it here first. Well, let's talk about him then. Let's get straight into it. Woot Veghorst going to Manchester United. That is the talking point. Jo Thomlinson, I think we can tell you are buzzing. But if I went to you, Manchester United are getting on loan for six months, a striker from Burnley, what would you be thinking? Is he called Woot Veghorst? Well, originally. Then I'm excited. Let's be real. I'm hyping him up here because I have a personal love of Woot Veghorst. On paper, it's a bit of a bizarre signing, isn't it? But I think the deeper you look at this move, the more understanding I have that it's actually fine. It is a fine signing for Manchester United. Proven track record in one of Europe's top five leagues. I think during his time in the Bundesliga, only Robert Lewandowski scored more goals than him. An extremely hard worker. I'm sure Mina's going to be able to tell us more about this, but his pressing numbers both in Germany and at Burnley were absolutely exceptional. He's got a very big character by all accounts. From some of the things I've read about his time in the Burnley dressing room, he may be a little bit overconfident there, but that might suit Manchester United. He might come in and be a little bit more confident and not be overawed by the situation. And yes, we can take the Burnley situation and the Burnley two goals in half a season. You can either take it one way that he was a big flop in the Premier League, or you can take it the other way where he was playing for a struggling Burnley team that were on the way down anyway, created no chances, and he was thrown in at the deep end. So I'm looking at his overall impact here, and I think if he can come off the bench and impact a few games and we can use his physicality and his hold up play and the way he brings people into the game and he can work hard for us, I have no issue at this low cost because it's going to open the door to a proper number nine in the summer. Interesting. Mina, how are you feeling about it? Because obviously this wasn't a striker that you guys targeted in the summer. It's also somebody that isn't like Cody Gakpo, who you guys were interested in just a couple of weeks ago. How do you feel about it? Do you think it's just a quick fix for now? Do you think it'll work out? Do you think he'll be the main man or more of a substitute appearance when Martial is eventually injured? Yeah, I think it's another short-term stopgap. We've seen it a lot with Manchester United when it comes to signing strikers, especially over the age of 32, 33 or just above 30, that they sign strikers on a short-term idea for a long-term problem that we've had. We know that the club is going through a restructuring process right now. They're up for sale. The owners are looking to leave after a long overdue time that they've spent at the club. I would never have expected them to turn around and invest 30, 40, 50 million in a January signing because when you look back in 20, I think it was 2020 when we bought Bruno Fernandes, we spent around 47 million in the January transfer window, but we had about 300 million cash in bank. So it made sense for the club to be able to afford to buy someone of that calibre for that kind of price tag. But when you look at the half year results this year, we've got, I think it's like less than 20 million cash in bank. I think it's around 24 million cash in bank. So I would be very shocked to see Manchester United to go and then sign someone in the January. So a short-term deal like this makes sense. I don't want to butcher his name because the last time I was at Forward Daily, I did mispronounce a player's name. But in terms of his attributes that he brings, I totally agree with Joe. I think he brings something different. People look at him and think, okay, six foot six, he's got a large physical stature. It's what we're missing right now. This season, we saw Harry Maguire go up front as a striker in a game that we needed a goal because we simply did not have a target man in the box. And I feel like he will bring something different. And when he was at Wolfsburg, he was not limited to being like a target number nine, where he was just in the box and people were just lobbing in crosses to him, similar to what we were doing with Mauro and Fellaini, if you guys remember that time at Manchester United. But he wasn't doing that at Wolfsburg. He was very much a target number nine, but he was able to link up, play back to goal, 1-2 passing. And for someone that's quite tall and quite large in his physical stature, he moves quite quick. So he was able to get in behind the defence quite often. He didn't score a load of goals with headers. I think he was like 24% of his goals or 23%. The rest was alternated mainly between his predominant foot and his weaker foot. But that just shows the different kind of attributes that he brings. He's a different player, I think, to Anthony Martial. I think Anthony Martial will continue to be our starting striker. But if he gets injured, we know that Rashford is not really that comfortable at the moment playing as a nine, and he's admitted it quite a few times this season. So I would rather have someone that we could plonk up there and can do a better job than someone who's uncomfortable playing in that position. No, I think the move makes perfect sense. And again, a six-month loan move, we don't know the full details just yet. There could be an option to buy. If it goes swimmingly well, I think the whole point is that it gives you something different. It is really, really good. Tomlinson, obviously when you're looking at him coming in, Mila kind of mentioned it there, he isn't necessarily just a guy that is there for the long balls and there to beat a man. Because that's what he's going to get painted as. Indeed. And that's just how the media kind of do it. When someone's above six foot four, they're suddenly the guy that the ball's being lumped into. How do you think he'll fit exactly? Do you think he'll find a really good relationship with one person in particular? How will he work with Rashford, who at the moment is that kind of star guy on the left? I love the idea of him working with Rashford. I love the idea of Rashford working off a striker. I always have. I think he works best in the half spaces when he can cut inside. I think he works best when he's getting in behind. And I think Wout Weghorst, people are going to say he's going to win flick-ons and all this. I don't think that's how Eric ten Haag plays football. Eric ten Haag is going to rotate possession, he's going to suck teams into a press that's kind of wrong and then be able to break quickly and use players like Wout Weghorst to bop one-twos off and things like that. And that's basically what he'll be looking to do. I totally agree with Mina Masi, I was going to be the number nine, but he offers a different style to what Manchester United have currently got on their books. It's very low cost. And I said it earlier, and I'll repeat this, that I would rather go for a player on a short-term contract if it meant getting our ideal number nine in the summer. I don't want to waste a load of money now on a player that's not quite a nine, he's a bit of a winger, we've got enough of them. Rashford can play out there, Marseille can play out there, Garnach can play out there, Sanchez can come back, Alanga, Anthony. We need a number nine. I would rather we had a short gap in there and then used the money we could have wasted in January on Victor Osserman or on Harry Kane in the summer. I think it's much smarter to do that than overpaying now on a player that doesn't fit in the number nine role because we've got enough wingers come strikers. I feel like you're talking about Jal Pheonix there. I think Jal Pheonix would have been a fine option for Manchester United. He would have been a fine option because he could play in multiple areas across the front line. But where was his role? He was going to want to play in very similar spaces to Bruno Fernandes. If he was playing on the wing, which he doesn't classically do, it's going to be very similar areas to Rashford. He's not going to play on the right where Anthony is pretty integral to this Eric Ten Haag system. So we'd have to play as a nine. We haven't really seen him play as a low nine even in La Liga, let alone a physical league like the Premier League. I think he'll be good for you. He will be good, but he's a creator more than he's a goal scorer, first and foremost. And United just need a blood and thunder number nine goal scorer who lives and breathes goals. That seems to be their cause. Maybe not from his Burnley time, but it's definitely at his Besiktas time at the moment where he is currently. Obviously, they've got to sort out deals. Hey, let's not disrespect the Super League. No, let's disrespect it because it is rubbish. Wow. Okay. Not from me that, from Tomlinson. Mina, you don't have to give your opinion on the Super League. It's absolutely fine. Is there any concerns you have slightly about Weghorst? Because look, we mentioned here that Martial is obviously the starting number nine. However, his injury record is a bit patchy at the best of times. If you get to a position where you're solely relying upon Weghorst and teams might slightly suss out what he's about and how it works, is that a slight concern or are there any others that you have? No, I wouldn't say that's really a concern for me because like Joe said, I think it's interesting he does offer something different. We've seen it when he was at Wolfsburg where they kind of played in a similar formation with what United play now with the lone striker and then the three people behind him and then two midfielders. And I think that will really bring out, it could bring out the best in people like Bruno Fernandes and Rashford when they get the opportunity to run into the half spaces that he provides simply by dragging out defenders. I think one thing that we see with number nines and traditional number nine strikers, people who play in that position, is that their physical presence tends to disrupt the centre backs. And just by physically being there because you see with, for example, with Anthony Martial, he does drop in a little bit. He can pick up the ball because he's good with picking up the ball to his feet. He can play back to goal and he can drop back quite often. And with that, it doesn't create a lot of space for people to run in behind. And when he does do it, it does create space for players to run in behind. And we've seen it with Rashford, a few goals that he scored this season comes from something similar. So I think we might see a little bit of that. But to be honest, my biggest concern is that it's just another United stopgap. We've seen it so many times with our striking options. We brought, I think it was Igalo on the loan. We brought Ibrahimović. We brought Falcao. We brought Ronaldo. We brought Cavani. All of them significantly, significantly above 30. And it was meant to be a temporary thing. And, you know, for example, Cavani, we brought him in on a one-year deal and then he extended and then we brought in Ronaldo and then Cavani barely played. He had his own issues off the pitch. Whatever. I really think United has to address the striker issue that we have. We've tried to address it in the past with Romelu Lukaku. That just didn't work out. And that's acceptable. At least, you know, we invested in somewhat of a number nine. But I think the biggest concern for me is that the back-end problems at Manchester United might impact how this deal works out, because if they still don't get a sale over the line in terms of the club and new ownership, we might see Workhorse still at Manchester United in the summer. We might see it. We just don't know what to expect. So I think that's a big part. That's a big part that plays into it if he's here for six months. And I think Eric ten Haag has emphasised the need for depth because you look at our bench right now and we're running kind of thin when we take off the likes of Martial. Who goes up front? If we take off Rashford in that game, we might see Alanga playing as a false nine. We've seen Bruno in the past playing as a false nine. So Eric ten Haag has emphasised the need for reinforcements. And I think he's very much aware that Manchester United are not working with much this transfer window. But this can definitely be one of those ones where it's a six-month loan and it works out at the time, but there's no need to go past it. I'm excited. I'm interested to see it. I love it. Manchester United, are you listening? Listen to Mina. No more than six months, even though Tomlinson might want longer, depending on how things go. Joe, quickly then to you. What do you think is success for Weghorst in these six months then? Is there a certain number? I kind of said to the guys earlier in the Giselle Felix one, is there a certain number that you're looking for? Is it just a presence? Not really. I mean, if he gets between five to eight goals, it's been a really successful six months, isn't it? But the more important thing for him is the impacts in moments. I think if he scores a winning goal, maybe that takes you over the line in a big game, or he scores a winning goal in a semi-final, I'd rather he scored one big goal than five inconsequential goals where he's coming on and it's already 3-0. So I don't really think we should be setting him a number. He's literally a warm body, really, if we're being honest, up front for Manchester United that can have an impact in moments. Are you going to get Weghorst on the back of Manchester United shirt? Yeah, 100%. 100%. Give him the number seven. Give him the number seven. I want to see six foot six, seven, please. Okay. Mina, to finish us off here then, if Weghorst is the last signing you're getting in January, or the only signing you're getting in January... He will be. Would you be okay with that? Do you think that's okay? Or do you think there are slightly other issues you need to look at? No, I wouldn't be okay with it. And I don't think any fan would be happy with it simply because to compete, I think we need the reinforcements in our team. And I feel like the board might be setting up Ten Hag, especially with his desire to win some sort of silverware this season, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, something. And he's already emphasised quite a few times how thin the squad is and how important it is for reinforcements. So if he is the only signing, which it probably is, because like I said, we ain't got no money. We're poor, we're broke. And I don't see them investing in something that they are trying to part ways with. So I wouldn't be happy with it. But hopefully in the summer, by the time, you know, maybe new ownership comes in and reinforcements are able to be brought into the team, then we can look at it again. But it's very much like we just have to make do with what we've got at the end of this transfer window. Indeed. I mean, Eric Ten Hag, Paul, working wonders already for Weghorst. The Dutch links. Guys, thank you so much. That is the talking point. That is us discussing Wout Weghorst to Manchester United. Mina, thank you so much. You did that fantastically. Thank you for having me. Where can the guys at home find you? You can find me on Twitter at Mina Football. Yeah, I just talk about Twitter. I talk about football there. Talks about Twitter. Talks about Twitter, Mina. Honestly, if you like your Twitter, then follow Mina. Perfect. The link will be in the description below. If you guys want to see more, then click on screen right now. Get in the comments and let us know what you guys think of Wout Weghorst. I think that's what we're going to say every single time. Tomlinson is a massive fan. Subscribe to the channel, like the video, and we'll see you guys very soon.