Whenever I see Garnacho I see him dribbling like he’s running on cement. I challenge you to get that thought out of your head when you see him dribbling. Please get back to me.
The conditions for the "rejects" team is pretty loose, but seems to be players that left the club after the 2019-20 season onwards. This excludes some good players such as Lukaku, (Michael) Keane, Blind, Herrera or Welbeck, but fair enough. It also seems to not include incoming loanees, mainly Sabitzer who really was a poor decision not to pursue / sign after his half season with us. To respect the "spirit" of the rules, we should also exclude Sanchez (on loan during the 19-20 season, so already "rejected"), who could be an interesting bench option. Greenwood isn't an option for obvious reasons.
I thought it amusing that the four players that are currently playing for Boca Juniors weren't mentioned at all (even if Herrera is excluded as per above): Rojo (borderline exclusion due to his loan to Estudiantes) and Cavani all play regularly for them as they lead the Argentine league after 10 matches, while Romero was a key player last season - but has since been replaced in goal.
Anyway, I'd probably drop Rojo into defense instead of Matic, alongside Kambwala who is a more experienced center-back (and starting recently at Villareal who have reached 5th in Spain) than Tuanzebe. Rojo might only last half the match, so I'd be counting on Matic to help from the bench in the 2nd half - either replacing Rojo, other "older players" like Fred / Pogba or elsewhere if there's an injury / specific need. I wouldn't begrudge someone choosing Matic to start over Rojo however, it's a coin toss.
Although he has qualities and is arguably the current "highest level" player... I don't feel Sancho fits this team. He's significantly less direct than the four other midfielders/forwards, and if we want to go all in on a direct playing style... I'd pack the midfield. Bring Garner in to start the match and let Pogba roam more to find space. Fred-McTominay-Garner should be able to support / play around him wherever he finds the mis-match, especially if Fred has instructions to clamp down on Bruno and McT-Garner support the defense to cover the wing-backs (mainly Dorgu) and Amad+Garnacho as you mentioned.
With Pogba roaming, I think he'd find space higher up the pitch, possibly close to the wing. Martial and Rashford liked to combine on the left side of the attack... De Ligt and Maguire are going to struggle to keep the high line with Pogba looking to play them in behind. Especially if the right wing-back is in an attacking position. I'd also count on Carreras and Wan-Bissaka to support breaks - Wan-Bissaka in particular was always good doing this for us. I'd also want to find a place for Cavani on the bench, he doesn't have the pace anymore, but he brings intensity and goalscoring instinct on deflections / parried shots as well as activity on set pieces that could be valuable given current Man Utd's deficiencies in these areas...
Otherwise fine with your selection: Henderson - Wan-Bissaka, Kambwala, Rojo, Carreras - Fred, Garner, McTominay - Pogba, Martial, Rashford - subs: De Gea, Tuanzebe, Gomes, Sancho, Pereira, Cavani, Elanga, Antony
I still think current United wins this 6 times out of 10, with 2 of the other 4 being a draw. Thankfully. The "rejects" have too many players who are not known quantities for the intensity of PL football (anymore). Interesting thought experiment however!
The conditions were simply "did United want to get rid of them?" which can be a bit subjective. This rules out Lukaku who wanted to leave.
The year didn't really matter that's just the way it played out. Don't think I'd be finding room for a 35 year old Daley Blind in this team. Michael Keane is a great shout, I completely forgot about him. I DID consider Herrera and Cavani but ultimately left them both off for a variety of reasons (I'm also not sure if Cavani is a reject or if he just wanted to leave).
Outside of Fred, that team doesn’t have an ounce of work rate. This current United squad is undefeated against teams outside of PL where the lack of work rate and physicality benefits them. This reject team fits right into that mold. The rejects lose 7 out of 10 times at least to this United team. Only way the wind is a Burnley style low block and hope to score once on the counter to win 1-0.
Whenever I see Garnacho I see him dribbling like he’s running on cement. I challenge you to get that thought out of your head when you see him dribbling. Please get back to me.
The conditions for the "rejects" team is pretty loose, but seems to be players that left the club after the 2019-20 season onwards. This excludes some good players such as Lukaku, (Michael) Keane, Blind, Herrera or Welbeck, but fair enough. It also seems to not include incoming loanees, mainly Sabitzer who really was a poor decision not to pursue / sign after his half season with us. To respect the "spirit" of the rules, we should also exclude Sanchez (on loan during the 19-20 season, so already "rejected"), who could be an interesting bench option. Greenwood isn't an option for obvious reasons.
I thought it amusing that the four players that are currently playing for Boca Juniors weren't mentioned at all (even if Herrera is excluded as per above): Rojo (borderline exclusion due to his loan to Estudiantes) and Cavani all play regularly for them as they lead the Argentine league after 10 matches, while Romero was a key player last season - but has since been replaced in goal.
Anyway, I'd probably drop Rojo into defense instead of Matic, alongside Kambwala who is a more experienced center-back (and starting recently at Villareal who have reached 5th in Spain) than Tuanzebe. Rojo might only last half the match, so I'd be counting on Matic to help from the bench in the 2nd half - either replacing Rojo, other "older players" like Fred / Pogba or elsewhere if there's an injury / specific need. I wouldn't begrudge someone choosing Matic to start over Rojo however, it's a coin toss.
Although he has qualities and is arguably the current "highest level" player... I don't feel Sancho fits this team. He's significantly less direct than the four other midfielders/forwards, and if we want to go all in on a direct playing style... I'd pack the midfield. Bring Garner in to start the match and let Pogba roam more to find space. Fred-McTominay-Garner should be able to support / play around him wherever he finds the mis-match, especially if Fred has instructions to clamp down on Bruno and McT-Garner support the defense to cover the wing-backs (mainly Dorgu) and Amad+Garnacho as you mentioned.
With Pogba roaming, I think he'd find space higher up the pitch, possibly close to the wing. Martial and Rashford liked to combine on the left side of the attack... De Ligt and Maguire are going to struggle to keep the high line with Pogba looking to play them in behind. Especially if the right wing-back is in an attacking position. I'd also count on Carreras and Wan-Bissaka to support breaks - Wan-Bissaka in particular was always good doing this for us. I'd also want to find a place for Cavani on the bench, he doesn't have the pace anymore, but he brings intensity and goalscoring instinct on deflections / parried shots as well as activity on set pieces that could be valuable given current Man Utd's deficiencies in these areas...
Otherwise fine with your selection: Henderson - Wan-Bissaka, Kambwala, Rojo, Carreras - Fred, Garner, McTominay - Pogba, Martial, Rashford - subs: De Gea, Tuanzebe, Gomes, Sancho, Pereira, Cavani, Elanga, Antony
I still think current United wins this 6 times out of 10, with 2 of the other 4 being a draw. Thankfully. The "rejects" have too many players who are not known quantities for the intensity of PL football (anymore). Interesting thought experiment however!
The conditions were simply "did United want to get rid of them?" which can be a bit subjective. This rules out Lukaku who wanted to leave.
The year didn't really matter that's just the way it played out. Don't think I'd be finding room for a 35 year old Daley Blind in this team. Michael Keane is a great shout, I completely forgot about him. I DID consider Herrera and Cavani but ultimately left them both off for a variety of reasons (I'm also not sure if Cavani is a reject or if he just wanted to leave).
Outside of Fred, that team doesn’t have an ounce of work rate. This current United squad is undefeated against teams outside of PL where the lack of work rate and physicality benefits them. This reject team fits right into that mold. The rejects lose 7 out of 10 times at least to this United team. Only way the wind is a Burnley style low block and hope to score once on the counter to win 1-0.