[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

There's still a player in there. He'd be a great option for us up front right now.

Letting him, Lukaku, Herrera & Fellaini all leave without replacements was a really weird decision by Ole.

 

[Andycoleno9]

I don't remember, usually I always backed him. Might have lost trust after some time, I'm not even sure about that. All I remember is backing him. You never know btw as players form it too volatile at ManUtd.

I agree, he is better than Lingard, Mata and Pereira. James has his uses and has done well than Sanchez for ManUtd. The other 3 are just poor players who should be out of the club.

I didn't say Sanchez won't change at all, I said he shouldn't be option as a winger, he should be option as CF/SS. That's where he is playing well for Inter, his game intelligence is very good, so he picks passes well and also times his runs very well.

Yeah, my problem with players is that i rate pure quality( technique, skill, flair) a lot and i know that i am wrong in that and that football is not just skill but sometimes i can't helped it. That is why i don't rate some Caf's favourite players like James and McT. When i see midfielder or attacker with average skill i lose my head.

 

[roonster09]

Yeah, my problem with players is that i rate pure quality( technique, skill, flair) a lot and i know that i am wrong in that and that football is not just skill but sometimes i can't helped it. That is why i don't rate some Caf's favourite players like James and McT. When i see midfielder or attacker with average skill i lose my head.

And somehow you rate Lukaku

 

[crossy1686]

There's still a player in there. He'd be a great option for us up front right now.

Letting him, Lukaku, Herrera & Fellaini all leave without replacements was a really weird decision by Ole.

We needed a clear out to be fair, for everyone's sake. There was about 8 out of the starting 11 players last season that I never wanted to see again in a United shirt and I think that feeling was near enough wide-spread through the fanbase. A lot of players threw the towel in and wanted out and our recruitment has been piss poor on top of that because we've been relying on every manager we've had to be a DOF as well.

 

[Andycoleno9]

And somehow you rate Lukaku

Ha ha. Good point. But he scores goals. I rate that stat also

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

We needed a clear out to be fair, for everyone's sake. There was about 8 out of the starting 11 players last season that I never wanted to see again in a United shirt and I think that feeling was near enough wide-spread through the fanbase. A lot of players threw the towel in and wanted out and our recruitment has been piss poor on top of that because we've been relying on every manager we've had to be a DOF as well.

Having a clear out is all well and good, but when you don't replace the players you sell there's gonna be problems. This injury crisis has exposed the negligence by our board leaving us so light in midfield and attack.

Can you imagine Liverpool getting rid of Firmino, Mane and Wijnaldum without replacing them? Or City letting Aguero, Sterling and Silva go without replacements? That's literally what we did and that would never happen at any of our rivals.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

We needed a clear out to be fair, for everyone's sake. There was about 8 out of the starting 11 players last season that I never wanted to see again in a United shirt and I think that feeling was near enough wide-spread through the fanbase. A lot of players threw the towel in and wanted out and our recruitment has been piss poor on top of that because we've been relying on every manager we've had to be a DOF as well.

I personally disagree with that. I think the core was alright. Just we needed some special top players in attack and improve our fullback positions.
I also wanted to give Henderson a go and sell De Gea personally.
What we really needed was a really good manager that could bring in the right players and improve those we had.

 

[SATA]

I know it’s weird but i’m still holding hope that he’s gonna come good at Old Trafford. He’s a quality player. Although i think maybe Serie A suits him more

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

We needed a clear out to be fair, for everyone's sake. There was about 8 out of the starting 11 players last season that I never wanted to see again in a United shirt.

That's called cutting of your nose to spite your face @crossy1686

And I agree, that's exactly what we did. Ole did ALL the popular stuff to pamper to the fan-base and has made us a miles worse team for it. This Summer we'll have much less money due to no Champions League again (adidas, tv rights etc), we'll be less attractive to players due to no Champions League and a horrific season behind us and I'd say any chance of convincing Pogba to stay has gone completely out of the window.

But hey, we got rid of some players our fans didn't like such as Fellaini and Lukaku. With Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs being so shit, we should have kept a few of the "unlikeables" for a season whilst transitioning our squad, got a Champions League place, brought in some top targets and THEN sold off these players.

I've called it naive more than once, but in reality it was absolute-fecking-stupidity and the fact that some fans like yourself still think it's was "necessary" despite seeing the current and potential future damage it has done completely wrecks my brain.

 

[crossy1686]

That's called cutting of your nose to spite your face @crossy1686

And I agree, that's exactly what we did. Ole did ALL the popular stuff to pamper to the fan-base and has made us a miles worse team for it. This Summer we'll have much less money due to no Champions League again (adidas, tv rights etc), we'll be less attractive to players due to no Champions League and a horrific season behind us and I'd say any chance of convincing Pogba to stay has gone completely out of the window.

But hey, we got rid of some players our fans didn't like such as Fellaini and Lukaku. With Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs being so shit, we should have kept a few of the "unlikeables" for a season whilst transitioning our squad, got a Champions League place, brought in some top targets and THEN sold off these players.

I've called it naive more than once, but in reality it was absolute-fecking-stupidity and the fact that some fans like yourself still think it's was "necessary" despite seeing the current and potential future damage it has done completely wrecks my brain.

While I'd agree with it being a case of self harm, it was also necessary to a degree. You can't build a new team with toxicity surrounding the club and in the dressing room, we were in need of a hard cultural reboot and are still in the process of that.

The former recruitment strategy didn't work and was more expensive than necessary. Some of those players were coming to the ends of their contracts are were asking for more money on the daft, overpaid amounts they were already on also, some also wanted out because they couldn't handle the pressure of being a United player.

It was brave/naive to have a clear out last summer without any real targets lined up and this season was pretty much written off as a result but I'm certainly more confident in our recruitment moving forward as the players we have brought in since last summer have been much better than the ones we did under previous management, whether that's Solskjaer's doing or the board, I don't know.

Things may get worse before they get better but another three signings in the summer (minimum) and we will have a better squad core. Our issues aren't fixable overnight and it's at least 3 years before we can challenge for anything meaningful but at least the wage budget has been reduced in theory, which may give us breathing space with the reduced income over the coming season. Who knows? We'll see.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

While I'd agree with it being a case of self harm, it was also necessary to a degree. You can't build a new team with toxicity surrounding the club and in the dressing room, we were in need of a hard cultural reboot and are still in the process of that.

I don’t buy that at all, Madrid was toxic when Mourinho left, did they need to sell Ramos and a bunch of others? Or just make some of them happy again?

It was self harm and surely you realise it has ruined our season AND made the next Summer window much much more difficult for us?

That it was needed “to a degree” I agree with, but we didn’t do it to a degree, we absolutely gutted the squad, fecked up our season and probably fecked up next Summer all in one go.

 

[romufc]

Letting him, Lukaku, Herrera & Fellaini all leave without replacements was a really weird decision by Ole.

Fellaini was sold in Jan after the emergence of McTominay.
Lukau was replaced by Greenwood in the squad
Sanchez was producing nothing at all, James has done more in 6 months than Sanchez did for us
Herrera was let go because he wanted 250k a week, there is no way we should pay that for a 30 yr old who is average.

They are not weird decisions if you look at it logically, we struggled with them in the squad last few seasons so, there is no proof we would be better off with them.

And to rebuild, you have to let the old / bad apples go before you can bring new players in.

 

[RedDevilUnited369]

There's still a player in there. He'd be a great option for us up front right now.

Letting him, Lukaku, Herrera & Fellaini all leave without replacements was a really weird decision by Ole.

Wasn't weird at all. All players apart from Fellaini didn't want to be here. What makes you think these players would perform had we kept them?

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Fellaini was sold in Jan after the emergence of McTominay.
Lukau was replaced by Greenwood in the squad
Sanchez was producing nothing at all, James has done more in 6 months than Sanchez did for us
Herrera was let go because he wanted 250k a week, there is no way we should pay that for a 30 yr old who is average.

They are not weird decisions if you look at it logically, we struggled with them in the squad last few seasons so, there is no proof we would be better off with them.

And to rebuild, you have to let the old / bad apples go before you can bring new players in.

Yes, they are weird decisions. Can you imagine Liverpool or City letting 4 regulars leave and "replacing" them with 2 kids from the academy and a player with one season in the Championship to his name? These are not the moves of a club who are serious about winning trophies and competing on the highest level. They were moves with the objective of saving the Glazers money, nothing more. If you want to back that decision that's up to you, but let's call it exactly what it was.

Wasn't weird at all. All players apart from Fellaini didn't want to be here. What makes you think these players would perform had we kept them?

The problem was not letting them go, the problem was losing 4 first team players without bringing in any replacements.

I swear the Glazer sympathizers on here are getting out of control.

 

[romufc]

Yes, they are weird decisions. Can you imagine Liverpool or City letting 4 regulars leave and "replacing" them with 2 kids from the academy and a player with one season in the Championship to his name? These are not the moves of a club who are serious about winning trophies and competing on the highest level. They were moves with the objective of saving the Glazers money, nothing more. If you want to back that decision that's up to you, but let's call it exactly what it was.

4 regulars? we were not going to win the league with Fellaini, Herrera, Lukaku and Sanchez. Like when City let go their regulars in Clichy, Zabaleta etc and Liverpool did with Benteke, Sakho, Can etc..

Those clubs don't replace with academy because they are not good enough, when they are they would like Trent and Gomez.

Manutd have a tradition that goes back years for producing young talent and if you cannot see that Greenwood, McT are decent then there is an issue there.

We have tried to buy players we thought could help win the league under Jose and LVG which worked really well no?

 

[flappyjay]

Yes, they are weird decisions. Can you imagine Liverpool or City letting 4 regulars leave and "replacing" them with 2 kids from the academy and a player with one season in the Championship to his name? These are not the moves of a club who are serious about winning trophies and competing on the highest level. They were moves with the objective of saving the Glazers money, nothing more. If you want to back that decision that's up to you, but let's call it exactly what it was.

Not going and getting a proper Lukaku replacement or atleast a goal scoring rw was weird. As for Sanchez Greenwood has already outscored him in the league whilst the championship kid has equalled Sanchez's united league goals tally. Good for them that they are doing well but let's not wipe our memories of their time in Manchester United red.

 

[Offside]

There's still a player in there. He'd be a great option for us up front right now.

Letting him, Lukaku, Herrera & Fellaini all leave without replacements was a really weird decision by Ole.

No doubt Ole had a list of replacements and Ed lost the contact number for them all down the back of his sofa.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

There's still a player in there. He'd be a great option for us up front right now.

Letting him, Lukaku, Herrera & Fellaini all leave without replacements was a really weird decision by Ole.

Lukaku was. Not Fellaini and Herrera, though.

We have enough numbers in midfield. Unfortunately, most of them have been injured this season. Ole couldn't have predicted that.

We definitely should have replaced Rom, though.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

4 regulars? we were not going to win the league with Fellaini, Herrera, Lukaku and Sanchez. Like when City let go their regulars in Clichy, Zabaleta etc and Liverpool did with Benteke, Sakho, Can etc..

Those clubs don't replace with academy because they are not good enough, when they are they would like Trent and Gomez.

Manutd have a tradition that goes back years for producing young talent and if you cannot see that Greenwood, McT are decent then there is an issue there.

We have tried to buy players we thought could help win the league under Jose and LVG which worked really well no?

City replaced Clichy and Zabaleta with Mendy and Walker. Liverpool replaced Can with Fabinho, Benteke with Firmino and Sakho with Matip. How on earth is it comparable?

How do you know they aren't good enough? Our youngsters get more chances than theirs because we have no squad depth. They are serious contenders for domestic and european honors and have world class squads, hence why they don't play as many academy players as us.

No we don't. We struck gold with the class of 92. Who else? Wes Brown, John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher? We have Rashford right now whose made it. Greenwood and McTominay are decent, but they get nowhere near a title winning team right now. This "tradition" and "United Way" nonsense is holding us back. The vast majority of our world class players in the PL era were bought.

So because we bought a few players to help us win the league in the past and it didn't work out, we should stop trying to buy players to help us win the league? What sense does that make?

Yeah, my problem with players is that i rate pure quality( technique, skill, flair) a lot and i know that i am wrong in that and that football is not just skill but sometimes i can't helped it. That is why i don't rate some Caf's favourite players like James and McT. When i see midfielder or attacker with average skill i lose my head.

Most United fans in general value heart, passion and desire far higher than flair and technical ability. It's why Daniel James is getting a free pass for 6 months of poor form while Pogba and Martial get shit on if they misplace a pass.

 

[kouroux]

That's called cutting of your nose to spite your face @crossy1686

And I agree, that's exactly what we did. Ole did ALL the popular stuff to pamper to the fan-base and has made us a miles worse team for it. This Summer we'll have much less money due to no Champions League again (adidas, tv rights etc), we'll be less attractive to players due to no Champions League and a horrific season behind us and I'd say any chance of convincing Pogba to stay has gone completely out of the window.

But hey, we got rid of some players our fans didn't like such as Fellaini and Lukaku. With Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs being so shit, we should have kept a few of the "unlikeables" for a season whilst transitioning our squad, got a Champions League place, brought in some top targets and THEN sold off these players.

I've called it naive more than once, but in reality it was absolute-fecking-stupidity and the fact that some fans like yourself still think it's was "necessary" despite seeing the current and potential future damage it has done completely wrecks my brain.

I couldn't agree more.
Lukaku is often talked about as a poison but really how could he have actually fecked us up more when you think about it ? I don't see it. Selling him without replacing was very stupid and I don't doubt that was the idea all along.
Replacing him was never on the agenda

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I couldn't agree more.
Lukaku is often talked about as a poison but really how could he have actually fecked us up more when you think about it ? I don't see it. Selling him without replacing was very stupid and I don't doubt that was the idea all along.
Replacing him was never on the agenda

It appeared getting an extra striker in was low on the agenda, but replacing him absolutely wasn't. Ole was certain he already had his replacements in house.

Lukaku being "poison" is just such silly talk, do people forget the night that got Ole his job that it was poisonous Rom doing the scoring? This was way after Ole had made it clear to him that he wasn't first choice.

 

[jem]

City replaced Clichy and Zabaleta with Mendy and Walker. Liverpool replaced Can with Fabinho, Benteke with Firmino and Sakho with Matip. How on earth is it comparable?

How do you know they aren't good enough? Our youngsters get more chances than theirs because we have no squad depth. They are serious contenders for domestic and european honors and have world class squads, hence why they don't play as many academy players as us.

No we don't. We struck gold with the class of 92. Who else? Wes Brown, John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher? We have Rashford right now whose made it. Greenwood and McTominay are decent, but they get nowhere near a title winning team right now. This "tradition" and "United Way" nonsense is holding us back. The vast majority of our world class players in the PL era were bought.

So because we bought a few players to help us win the league in the past and it didn't work out, we should stop trying to buy players to help us win the league? What sense does that make?


Most United fans in general value heart, passion and desire far higher than flair and technical ability. It's why Daniel James is getting a free pass for 6 months of poor form while Pogba and Martial get shit on if they misplace a pass.

Exactly. Had Klopp let go of Benteke and decided Jordan Ibe or Solanke was sufficient (I know the timeline might not add up here - just using these names as examples,) then he would've be criticized for it. Off-loading Lukaku, Sanchez, Fellaini and Herrera (well letting Ander go rather than off-loading,) and replacing them with McTominay, Greenwood and James was just criminal.

 

[jem]

It appeared getting an extra striker in was low on the agenda, but replacing him wasn't. Ole was certain he already had his replacements in house.

Lukaku being "poison" is just such silly talk, do people forget the night that got Ole his job that is was poisonous Rom doing the scoring?

Yeah this poisonous talk about Lukaku seems to be very revisionist. I'll admit his behaviour during the summer was a bit annoying, but he put in a good shift when he played (I don't he was very good, but lack of effort didn't seem to be the issue.)

 

[romufc]

City replaced Clichy and Zabaleta with Mendy and Walker. Liverpool replaced Can with Fabinho, Benteke with Firmino and Sakho with Matip. How on earth is it comparable?

Mendy has had a very good time right?

I am glad you mention this, Firmino was already at Liverpool so what he did was get rid of Benteke and put his faith in Firmino.

His first transfer in the summer he signed, Mane, Gini, Karius, Klavan, Matip. Ole signed AWB, Maguire, James.

He then promoted Trent over Clyne.

So that is comparable...

How do you know they aren't good enough? Our youngsters get more chances than theirs because we have no squad depth. They are serious contenders for domestic and european honors and have world class squads, hence why they don't play as many academy players as us.

How do I know, Lukaku, Sanchez, Herrera have been at this club for a while now and did nothing to suggest they are good enough. Pep was not a serious contender in his first year, neither Klopp. they built their success which people like you think has come instantaneously.

So because we bought a few players to help us win the league in the past and it didn't work out, we should stop trying to buy players to help us win the league? What sense does that make?

No, but clearly it didnt work so we have to try something different. Clearly bringing AWB, Maguire and Bruno shows that we are still trying.

 

[red woppit]

Yes, they are weird decisions. Can you imagine Liverpool or City letting 4 regulars leave and "replacing" them with 2 kids from the academy and a player with one season in the Championship to his name? These are not the moves of a club who are serious about winning trophies and competing on the highest level. They were moves with the objective of saving the Glazers money, nothing more. If you want to back that decision that's up to you, but let's call it exactly what it was.


The problem was not letting them go, the problem was losing 4 first team players without bringing in any replacements.

I swear the Glazer sympathizers on here are getting out of control.

No Glazer sympathiser here. I have no doubt that Ole was probably told to get rid of players before being allowed to recruit new ones, and true to form, we ran out of time to get a striker and or RW, and possibly a midfielder to replace Herrera.

 

[arthurka]

Played well against Milan, looked like his fitness has improved too. He was pressing all game and also was like playmaker. Making good contribution for Inter.

Thought he was excellent last night. But he has been really hit and miss..

 

[MadDogg]

Yeah this poisonous talk about Lukaku seems to be very revisionist. I'll admit his behaviour during the summer was a bit annoying, but he put in a good shift when he played (I don't he was very good, but lack of effort didn't seem to be the issue.)

Last season he didn't. He'd make one or two big gut-busting runs a game which would get a fair bit of attention, but the rest of the time he'd stroll around barely moving and making half-arsed attempts to win what should have been 50/50 balls.

Lukaku was obviously a problem in the dressing room last season. I do think part of that was him being Mourinho's golden boy (perhaps harsh to blame Lukaku for that) despite how badly he was actually playing. But he was also in the press a number of times bigging himself up and talking about how others needed to man up (while being the worst performer in the team), on the field he'd constantly be pointing and blaming others for his own mistakes, and he went from being great friends with Pogba to never being together (who despite the media and public focus is loved and friends with almost every other player and manager he's ever played with). Combine that with the shit he pulled over the summer and his comments since and it's almost certain that it wasn't just Pogba that he'd fallen out with.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Productive loan spell for him, flirting with a Welsh 16 year old girl.

 

[Catt]

This can't be good.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Productive loan spell for him, flirting with a Welsh 16 year old girl.

Remove his salary from us! Inter can pay if they want .

 

[ash_86]

 

[Catt]

Maybe put that in the Matic thread?

 

[ash_86]

Maybe put that in the Matic thread?

Yikes. Thanks for pointing out

 

[Catt]

Yikes. Thanks for pointing out

No problem. People will think we have extended Sanches.

 

[Mark Pawelek]

Yes, they are weird decisions. Can you imagine Liverpool or City letting 4 regulars leave and "replacing" them with 2 kids from the academy and a player with one season in the Championship to his name? These are not the moves of a club who are serious about winning trophies and competing on the highest level. They were moves with the objective of saving the Glazers money, nothing more. If you want to back that decision that's up to you, but let's call it exactly what it was.


The problem was not letting them go, the problem was losing 4 first team players without bringing in any replacements.

I swear the Glazer sympathizers on here are getting out of control.

It's want instant results with a threadbare squad who are out of control.

 

[Falcow]

This can't be good.

Maybe we could sack him for grooming a minor?

 

[RedPed]

Productive loan spell for him, flirting with a Welsh 16 year old girl.

This can't be good.

Maybe we could sack him for grooming a minor?

This is for player performance stuff. Probably best to start a new thread if you have to discuss this.

 

[Catt]

This is for player performance stuff. Probably best to start a new thread if you have to discuss this.

Had forgotten this post so I don't have to.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Looks like he bossed it tonight. 1 goal, 2 assists, 6 key passes MOTM on whoscored with 9.5 rating.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Great stuff. Theres still a player in him somewhere.