Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker says the club should sign Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake.
Ake has impressed in a difficult season for the south coast club and Parker believes he would make a perfect addition to the Old Trafford defence. The conversation came up on this week’s Talking Devils podcast, where Parker explained that he felt Luke Shaw is struggling for form since the restart.
“Luke is struggling for me,” Parker said. “Defensively he always seems to be caught out of position and then he’s tracking back facing his own goal. One of the reasons why, and this might sound harsh – he’s always cutting inside because it’s an easier run than going outside. But Luke is running into cul-de-sacs all the time because he’s left-footed. Teams know what he’s doing. They offer him the opportunity to cross it but he never does. And then they counter attack into the big space he leaves.
“Luke and Harry Maguire, recovery-wise, don’t have great legs. Everyone looks to counter on that side because there’s no great pace. I would look at bringing in a left-sided centre-half and a left-back to move Harry on to the right-hand side.
“The left-footed centre-half would provide balance. If Ole is happy with Luke then a left-footer at the side of him is necessary to cover. Nathan Ake is good and honest in the air. He’s scored a few important goals for Bournemouth. He’s a player United should go and get. If you want to stay within these shores, you get Ake.”
Paul also mentioned an alternative to Ake on the podcast, after explaining why he felt United got away with rotating their squad against Norwich City; he did, though, go on to say that he feels Solskjaer has built a team strong enough to put faith in moving forward.
“To throw them into a game like that after 3 and a half months without any competitive football was a big question,” he said. “You expect them to cruise into an FA Cup game and win easily. Juan Mata might have needed more game time before but also with players on his level. He was two passes in front of everyone and it made him look bad. It also caused the players around them who have been playing regularly to malfunction.
“If Ole could win the FA Cup that would be two fingers up to everyone who doubted him… Can he get Manchester United into the Champions League, when everyone – including me – thought they weren’t good enough to do it. It wasn’t a concern about Ole, it was about what had been left for him and how he was going to put together a team. He’s gone and done it. Now, don’t put all your eggs into one basket, go for everything. They’re on a roll. When they talk about resting – they’ve just had ninety days off!”
Paul was speaking exclusively on the Talking Devils podcast where he appears on a weekly show with United author Wayne Barton. Subscribe here.
