I guess my point is that we’ve been able to do this for a very long time. Yet they seem to be doing a better job of it than us, despite only just starting to shop with the big boys.
Alexander Isak - now a Newcastle player
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss Amad saving our blushes in a win against Southampton as well as our now annual loss at home to Brighton. They discuss Amorim's post-match comments, revisit how mid-table we may or may not be, and discuss some transfer news.
I guess my point is that we’ve been able to do this for a very long time. Yet they seem to be doing a better job of it than us, despite only just starting to shop with the big boys.
I agree, the players they are signing are clearly good but they aren’t generally flavour of the month or seemingly highly sought after. Newcastle seemingly have a talent for getting in early now before the madness and concluding quickly.
Hes brilliant
Well yeah, we've clearly been complete clowns in the transfer market for a long time before Ten Hag and Murtough, we're not really a great barometer on that score.
I still think their dealings have been sensible rather than brilliant so far, and that Howe is owed far more credit for their progress than any scouting genius. The bloke has had Joelinton, Joe Willock and Callum Wilson producing the goods every week, as well as their post-oil money signings.
I guess so. Although that’s equally as depressing as them suddenly being better than us at scouting
Still early days but so far only Haaland in front of him in the race for top scorer..I guess so. Although that’s equally as depressing as them suddenly being better than us at scouting
Although since I posted that both him and Haaland have not looked particularly good.
Yeah……….he only scored twice on Sunday, we should sell him,
I've been suprised by him this year. Starting this season pretty good.
Much more of a poacher's instinct about him than I thought - it just shows the importance of putting balls into the box, he didn't really have to work hard for either goal, just have a good touch and stay calm.
He isn’t just a poacher….have a look at the goal he scored at Everton last season, superb skills. Don’t forget he was injured until the second half of last season so this is his first full season. Definitely a 20+ goals a season striker.
They’ve bought well if we’re honest. Isak is a player I thought they took a bit of a chance on to be honest, and the fee seemed very high. I wasn’t sold on him. But he’s been very good this season. So credit where it’s due. Tonali isn’t a player I particularly looked at United signing, and I don’t have any real regrets about missing out on him. But Botman and particularly Bruno G, are two players who could’ve been signed at very reasonable fees, at great ages, who would’ve been a perfect fit for us. It’s those sorts of signings we’ve been really bad at.
The first one that fits that sort of profile for me, is Hojlund. Yes he cost quite a bit, but Isak sort of money, but the potential is huge, and he’s clearly ready to play for a big club.
If we are going to put a team together that’s going to challenge for titles, we should be signing a mix of up and coming players, who are high potentials punts; then crucially and most importantly, players who are through their early development, and on the cusp on going to the next level to become stars, but they aren’t bona-fide world beaters yet. Players in that 22-24 sort of age bracket. I’d have taken all of Bruno G, Szoboszlai, Timber, Mac Allister, and possibly Rice, and I think we’d have a much better squad that’s ready for now and the long term.
Im okay with the Mount signing because I think he’s close to filling that bracket; he just hasn’t found his groove yet. The Varane’s and Casemiro’s of this world are great in the short term but we’re getting them when their peak achievements and best years are behind them and that doesn’t make sense to me. You can’t build anything sustainable with that sort of transfer strategy. We paid 60m plus for Casemiro, at 30 years old. It works if he was 20m but not 60.
It’s just indicative of a lack of strategic thinking.
The first one that fits that sort of profile for me, is Hojlund. Yes he cost quite a bit, but Isak sort of money, but the potential is huge, and he’s clearly ready to play for a big club.
If we are going to put a team together that’s going to challenge for titles, we should be signing a mix of up and coming players, who are high potentials punts; then crucially and most importantly, players who are through their early development, and on the cusp on going to the next level to become stars, but they aren’t bona-fide world beaters yet. Players in that 22-24 sort of age bracket. I’d have taken all of Bruno G, Szoboszlai, Timber, Mac Allister, and possibly Rice, and I think we’d have a much better squad that’s ready for now and the long term.
Im okay with the Mount signing because I think he’s close to filling that bracket; he just hasn’t found his groove yet. The Varane’s and Casemiro’s of this world are great in the short term but we’re getting them when their peak achievements and best years are behind them and that doesn’t make sense to me. You can’t build anything sustainable with that sort of transfer strategy. We paid 60m plus for Casemiro, at 30 years old. It works if he was 20m but not 60.
It’s just indicative of a lack of strategic thinking.
He's great but being Swedish it wasn't a huge surprise he'd take the league by storm. I can't think of many who've failed to impress in the PL
Edit - Maybe Isakson for City.
Edit - Maybe Isakson for City.
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Yes I know, I said he's much more of a poacher than I thought he was. That part of his game has surprised me.
I agree and I think a lot of our short term thinking largely comes from the manager at that time. The pressure to succeed is huge and if it doesn’t work the fans will be calling for your head. Its much less risky to blow money on a Casemiro who is proven, than a Bruno G who hasn’t yet walked the walk yet. As soon as we get some continuity in the dug out I would expect things like to improve, of course we could invest in a proper football structure at the top but the point remains.
United's recruitment under Ten Hag has been a disgrace and the manager is included for criticism in this assessment, not enough signings to move the needle of the first team quality. I'd take the window the likes of Arsenal and Newcastle have had especially when it comes to recruitment of the midfield. It's not that United have even signed bad players on paper but ones that don't take the team to the next level.
The thing is, United finished 3rd last season, won a trophy and got to a final in another. Confidence, fitness, working hard and being coached to get the basics correct can work wonders and that's what Newcastle are showing this season and we are lacking. I would say though, even though United are playing terrible and newcastle are playing well, they are still only 1 point ahead of us.
This is such a fickle take. Last season literally every signing did well. This season everyone’s been poor and many players are injured.
How exactly is it a disgrace ? Martinez, Antony, Malacia, Mount, Hojlund, Onana, Casemiro and Amrabat. All of them were better than what we had /we have. We just haven't been able to find some form with the new team.
Stop moaning for the sake of it.
Kallstrom was pretty shit.
Elmander at Bolton was maybe the biggest flop. Signed him for about 8m (when that was a very big fee in the 2000s) and his scoring record was mediocre.
Defenders are always great, Mellberg one of my all time favourite Villa players.
I had a real soft spot for that era of Villa. Mellberg, Hitzlesperger, Angel, Vassell, Hendrie. Used to buy a lot of them for United on games!
You’re on a United forum, careful now
Elmander, Jonas Olsson, Martin Olsson, Seb Larsson, Toivonen, etc. Not really an impressive list.
That is a very 2nd tier list to Ljungberg, Mellberg, Blomqvist, Larsson, Ibra…all left a big mark on the PL.
I don't think this team is struggling due to form this team has struggled due to a mixture of poor chemistry and a tactical element that has had the midfield proverbially walking around with a hole in it's pocket. 400M worth of investment which is representative of a team struggling to identify itself and also where the best starting 11 predominantly is guesswork. The fact that without injuries none of us can succinctly determine the best team on sheet without having a key signing playing out of position says all it does about the window.
I'd have given the recruitment more credit if the team was being built on the foundation it firmly established the previous season. For instance Mount and Eriksen play the same position, so people view Mount as an improvement on Eriksen, but when you assess who has the more influential capability from the deeper areas to build an attack I'm not entirely sure Mount is an upgrade on Eriksen by way of his profile to influence the phases of play. As I said, it's not United signing bad players but ones who don't move the needle with the first team. The most common rhetoric I hear in the Mount vs Eriksen comparison is Mason's engine to press but is this quality alone enough to offset what Eriksen brings to the build up I don't personally think it does.
The largest weakness last season was the lack of productivity from all areas of the attack. If it wasn't for Rashfords extenuated purple patch, this team would have finished firmly outside the top 4 which is a pre cursor of what highlighted last season's success. The fact the club only signed Hojlund was a bad barometer in foresight to adhere to a problem that has repeated itself this season.
The situation around De Gea is exactly the same situation around Greenwood, it's about a very last minute deviation in planning. As it stands and as has always stood the club's recruitment is spearheaded by disorder. The only signings that could be considered a definitive success are Casemiro and Martinez.
I also don't mean to deviate from the thread but I feel as time progresses itself pound for pound with United's increase of spending and Newcastle's to match, I'm expecting them have the superior first team and squad due to a functional and efficient recruitment infrastructure.
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How has our recrtuiment been a disgrace and Newcastle's so good but we still managed to finish ahead of them in the league and beat them in a cup final? I think sometimes people forget that we're measuring players at other clubs by completely different standards. Arsenal's so called amazing signings were not the work of some genius recretuiment either. The likes of Jesus, Zinchenko and Partey were seen as budget signings as they weren't even particularly young. Arsenal were just considered the type of club that can't make the really big moves and only able to sign players who weren't good enough for the elite. Their success is a good reflection on Arteta and the job he's done to build a coherent team, not that these players individually elevated them to the next level. If they could, they'd have done it before Arsenal or at least would have commended much bigger fees.
Carew's Norwegian, though.Carew though
Bigger than me or you
I mean it really hasn't.
There haven't been many hits, some very confusing ones (Mount)* and the lingering stench of 'we only sign players then manager knows' doesn't help.
*of course Mount and the others we signed this summer deserve a bit of time in a settled, injury free squad to show what they can do.
For £400m or whatever the figure is, it's not great is it?
It's a massively biased and short-termist way of looking at things, and even like that, there's nothing "disgraceful" about it.
My favorite player outside United. There is no better player dribbling with the ball from midfield to striking area in the PL. Yes, he is a poor's man Thierry Henry but he move like Henry
I loved Larsson's cameo here as much as every other United fan that was there for it, but it's a stretch to say he left a big mark on the PL. Would the average oppo fan even remember or know he spent time here?
It is a little bit but he was a great player for a few weeks for a team that won the league. Big impact relative to other Swedes who didn’t get near a title.
Shhh
I think sometimes people forget where Newcastle were two years ago. Man United had a team worth a billion, NUFC were going to get relegated with a horrible squad that was lead by Steve Bruce.
The point still stands that recruitment had different purposes for both clubs. Theirs was tasked to elevating them from mediocrity to second tier in the PL. Ours is expected competition for one of the best sides in PL history. It's like comparing the job David Moyes did for Everton and what he did for us. Two completely different standards, one can succeed one and fail miserably in the other because the latter is significanly more difficult and rarer to find.