[Badunk]

I think Palace, Brentford, Nottingham Forrest, Villa all prove my theory, all of these teams have a strong solid core of British style players, even a player like Chris Woods is typically a British style striker. But yes they are all blended with great foreign imports that will bust a gut, most of these teams start with at least 3 or 4 British players and then add Northern European, Dutch, Scandinavian whose lifestyles and banter is similar to the UK.

United always recruited very good Dutch and Scandinavian players, those players would not be asking for a pay rise when they are 14th in the EPL.

MDL and Mazroui would not be asking for a ridiculous pay rise right now, it’s just beyond belief?

You're moving the goalposts a bit. You mentioned British players to start with, now it's British 'style' players.

Liverpool disproves your theory, though, no? Apart from TAA and Robertson, their Brits are bit-part players. And City's Brits haven't shone as bright as the foreign players, have they?

I think we just need good players, regardless of their origin.

And this goalkeeper is an absolute joke.

 

[strandty]

 

[Woziak]

You're moving the goalposts a bit. You mentioned British players to start with, now it's British 'style' players.

Liverpool disproves your theory, though, no? Apart from TAA and Robertson, their Brits are bit-part players. And City's Brits haven't shone as bright as the foreign players, have they?

I think we just need good players, regardless of their origin.

And this goalkeeper is an absolute joke.

Ok onto Liverpool Curtis Jones, Connor Bradley, Harvey Elliot, J Quansah, C Kelleher

They had A Oxlade and A Lallana regularly featuring under Klopp and the team that was second under Brendan Rogers had Sturridge, Stirling, S Gerrard.

They are bit part players as you say but all of those players in their squad walk into our first 11 especially their reserve Goalkeeper.

We need to get rid of Sancho, Rashford, Maguire, Shaw and probably Mount in the next two years and replace those 5 players with the best young British players.

Heaton and Evans have been great servants but they will leave this summer too, we need to be smart in the market.

I am one of the few fans that would love us to sign DeLap if we can beat Chelsea to him, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like Gykores or Osimhen, of course I would but we need 2 Centre Forwards and two number 10’s to be a top 6/8 team again. This squad is so woefully short of goals that if Anyony, Garnaucho, Hojlund, Rashford, Sancho all leave, then we need 4 replacements.

We need a left footed inside right striker/10 like Brian Mbeumo or F Trincao whose experienced, Either go get Osimhen or De lap as number 9 and make Cunha the first transfer of the window as inside left 10. Tyler Dibbing is also a great option as well.

 

[Woziak]

The fact that this story is breaking this week is the very reason that Onana should never play for the club again ever!

 

[United666]

As long as that new contract is at another club I’m all for it.

Try reading the room you absolute helmet.

 

[Bobby_2024]

I like his guts to bring his agent after Lyon game to ask for a better salary OR question about his 25% cut for not qualifying champions league

I have a feeling he wants to move some where else and started making moves.

 

[Rossa]

Yeah is hard to find examples of things Onana actually does very well. He can be a decent shot stopper at times and a calamitous one at others - an inconsistency that is more destabilizing than helpful. The thing he was supposed to allegedly excel at when he came was his distribution. Even that hasn't been particularly stellar.

I wouldn't call him a good shot stopper. He often makes easy shots look more spectacular. There was one instance, can't recall which game, where he made what I thought was a great save to his left, when in reality his positioning was off, and instead of making a meal out of it, other goalies would have taken a step and put their full body behind the shot. He is quite good when the ball is close to him, and sometimes that can be much harder than it looks. However, he looks heavy, doesn't have much of a jump on him, and his reach is mostly quite poor.

What pains me is that he has shown that he can be great with the ball. He has brilliant composure, can hit those passes in between opposition players to set up attacks - he had a period where he often found Bruno with those, but that was some time ago. He can hit them long very well, but for United, it has been very hit and miss.

 

[Raoul]

I wouldn't call him a good shot stopper. He often makes easy shots look more spectacular. There was one instance, can't recall which game, where he made what I thought was a great save to his left, when in reality his positioning was off, and instead of making a meal out of it, other goalies would have taken a step and put their full body behind the shot. He is quite good when the ball is close to him, and sometimes that can be much harder than it looks. However, he looks heavy, doesn't have much of a jump on him, and his reach is mostly quite poor.

What pains me is that he has shown that he can be great with the ball. He has brilliant composure, can hit those passes in between opposition players to set up attacks - he had a period where he often found Bruno with those, but that was some time ago. He can hit them long very well, but for United, it has been very hit and miss.

I think the fundamental problem with Onana is he doesn't inspire confidence and stability, which is basically the kiss of death for a keeper. Every time he has the ball I get nightmare flashbacks of the feeling I used to have 22 years ago when Barthez was here. Ultimately, those watching games want to feel some degree of confidence that another keeper mistake isn't always imminent, whereas Onana provides the polar opposite.

 

[Rossa]

A blend we need a British core and the. Great players like Mazroui, Bruno, Amad and others but we need British core and PL proven.

Not saying I disagree, but City have proven that may not be all that necessary. Liverpool also. I think there are plenty of British players with a poor mentality.

There was a lot of talk about the United way, and that clearly involved a British core and players coming through the ranks. We also played with speed and attacking football, but it seems like eons ago, and is there even a shred of that United DNA left?

 

[Rossa]

I think the fundamental problem with Onana is he doesn't inspire confidence and stability, which is basically the kiss of death for a keeper. Every time he has the ball I get nightmare flashbacks of the feeling I used to have 22 years ago when Barthez was here. Ultimately, those watching games want to feel some degree of confidence that another keeper mistake isn't always imminent, whereas Onana provides the polar opposite.

I agree. A goalie needs to inspire confidence. Great teams have great strikers and great goalkeepers - both are essential to a great team. We have neither.

 

[Mmm-Qatarian]

The fact that this story is breaking this week is the very reason that Onana should never play for the club again ever!

You are seriously way, way too emotionally invested in this agent thing.

I understand that Onana's not top of anyone's Christmas card list here but considering that, given the huge question marks around him, his future is very much likely to be up in the air this summer it makes sense that his agent is speaking to the club accordingly.

Fans honestly need to get some perspective with players and agents. They don't think like we do, and nor should they. At the end of the day, they'll always try to get the best deal for themselves just the same way that the clubs do, and that's exactly how it should be.

 

[Mmm-Qatarian]

I don't know if it's just me but the discourse around Onana at this stage has reached Harry Maguire levels.

I understand that he's been shite. I want him sold this summer like the vast majority of fans. But at this stage, it feels like he's getting eviscerated for literally EVERYTHING he says or does, and it makes any discussion around him completely fecking tiresome.

 

[Woziak]

Not saying I disagree, but City have proven that may not be all that necessary. Liverpool also. I think there are plenty of British players with a poor mentality.

There was a lot of talk about the United way, and that clearly involved a British core and players coming through the ranks. We also played with speed and attacking football, but it seems like eons ago, and is there even a shred of that United DNA left?

Quick question if Sir Alex was our manager now in his mid 60’s not mid 80’s how do you think that version of Sir Alex would solve the current problems, very similar to the way he solved it in the mid 80’s to early 90’s, he got rid of the drinking culture and attitude with in the club and built his own around young British talent like Keane, Irwin, Bruce, Hughes, Ribson, Palister, Ince, Parker then he added Mavericks like Cantona, RVN, RVP, Ronaldo, Teves, Rooney.

He recruited men that knew what it took to win and he encouraged the British rivalry and banter among the English/Welsh/Scottish and Irish players and then he added a strong Scandinavian influx of players with Dutch, French, and South American flair, he could adapt he was willing to go from a 442 to a modern 433 and was able to adapt however he would want a British core to build round,
if he was in his mid 60’s right now and asked to rebuild the club in 2025?

 

[Woziak]

I think the fundamental problem with Onana is he doesn't inspire confidence and stability, which is basically the kiss of death for a keeper. Every time he has the ball I get nightmare flashbacks of the feeling I used to have 22 years ago when Barthez was here. Ultimately, those watching games want to feel some degree of confidence that another keeper mistake isn't always imminent, whereas Onana provides the polar opposite.

He’s simply too heavy to be an agile goalkeeper, he will never have cat like reflexes like David De Gea and just takes too long to spring attacks too.

 

[Woziak]

You are seriously way, way too emotionally invested in this agent thing.

I understand that Onana's not top of anyone's Christmas card list here but considering that, given the huge question marks around him, his future is very much likely to be up in the air this summer it makes sense that his agent is speaking to the club accordingly.

Fans honestly need to get some perspective with players and agents. They don't think like we do, and nor should they. At the end of the day, they'll always try to get the best deal for themselves just the same way that the clubs do, and that's exactly how it should be.

No one is disputing that but surely there is a time and a place to let a story like this break out. You talk about agents like they are essential to the club improving, we just spent the third most on football Agents in the last 12 months and sit 14th in the EPL, please explain to me how that £30m+ has benefited and improved the club in the last 12 months.

Most of those fees were probably spent on Zirkzee and as good as he’s been recently he will finish this PL season scoring 3 Goals and 1 assists from 32 Appearances.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...-club-highest-payments-agents-man-united.html

 

[Mmm-Qatarian]

No one is disputing that but surely there is a time and a place to let a story like this break out. You talk about agents like they are essential to the club improving, we just spent the third most on football Agents in the last 12 months and sit 14th in the EPL, please explain to me how that £30m+ has benefited and improved the club in the last 12 months.

Most of those fees were probably spent on Zirkzee and as good as he’s been recently he will finish this PL season scoring 3 Goals and 1 assists from 32 Appearances.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...-club-highest-payments-agents-man-united.html

Agents aren't essential to the club improving, in fact they're probably a hurdle to that if anything. The reason I don't get angry about is agents because they're not employed to look after the club's interests, only the interests of their clients.

Again, I just think many fans act very irrationally when it comes to agents and players in general negotiating contracts. You shouldn't expect them to be looking out for the club's best interests; the club's executives should be doing that. Again, they're just there to get the best deal for their clients and, by extension, themselves.

Also, I don't think it's fair to get annoyed at Onana for this story coming out when it did. It could just as easily have come from a club source, and given that it's Chris Wheeler reporting it I'd go so far as to say that's more likely to be the case.

 

[julianfr]

Shaw.

Man will pull a hamstring putting on a glove

 

[Carl]

He'll play, and play well. Many will then go on to say we can cope with him and a GK isn't a priority. He'll then throw another in in the next game or 2 and thus the cycle continues.

 

[DJ_21]

Man will pull a hamstring putting on a glove

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

He'll play, and play well. Many will then go on to say we can cope with him and a GK isn't a priority. He'll then throw another in in the next game or 2 and thus the cycle continues.

He’s not coming back from this. He will most likely play the rest of the season, but close to zero chance of him winning back the fan base or gaining the trust of the manager.

Dead man walking.

 

[Rossa]

Quick question if Sir Alex was our manager now in his mid 60’s not mid 80’s how do you think that version of Sir Alex would solve the current problems, very similar to the way he solved it in the mid 80’s to early 90’s, he got rid of the drinking culture and attitude with in the club and built his own around young British talent like Keane, Irwin, Bruce, Hughes, Ribson, Palister, Ince, Parker then he added Mavericks like Cantona, RVN, RVP, Ronaldo, Teves, Rooney.

He recruited men that knew what it took to win and he encouraged the British rivalry and banter among the English/Welsh/Scottish and Irish players and then he added a strong Scandinavian influx of players with Dutch, French, and South American flair, he could adapt he was willing to go from a 442 to a modern 433 and was able to adapt however he would want a British core to build round,
if he was in his mid 60’s right now and asked to rebuild the club in 2025?

I think times have changed and most clubs are way more multicultural than in the 80s and 90s. He would sort out the culture, for sure, but I'm not necessarily sure that means what you imply. Not even sure what you imply - that British players have a better attitude or are better suited to the PL? To me, it looks that many of the hardest working players are not British, and the best players in the Premier League have often also turned out not to be British. There have also been plenty of scandals concerning British players, and not you could argue they have a better work ethic or training regime than players from other countries?

Again, not arguing that you are necessarily wrong, and I think that a national league should have at least a semblance to a core of players from said nation. It's also a discussion that could turn into a xenophobic discussion, which I highly doubt is what you are suggesting.

 

[caid]

Dont agree with the need for british players. Think its bolox to be honest.
The british team Ferguson created that won the league was replacing british players. Every team in the league had as many if not more british players. Fast forward all of 5 years when its become a bit more common and he's signed Johnsen, Stam, Schemichel, Yorke, Solskjaer and about a dozen other foreign players.

 

[NicolaSacco]

Fans honestly need to get some perspective with players and agents. They don't think like we do

This, for me, is absolutely key. Most, but not all, fans get it, I think. Onana (and his agent) don’t think like you. The Glazers don’t think like you. Hell, even a Utd legend like Bobby Charlton didn’t think like a fan.

 

[Deco10Legend]

We need money to rebuild our team, gives us a nice sum of money and take Diogo Costa ok?

 

[DanNistelrooy]

I think we can all agree Onana is not good enough but I am convinced he is better than what he has shown over the past few months. Like others in the squad, his confidence is clearly knocked.

I urge anyone going tomorrow night to listen to the last 10 minutes of the TOTD podcast with Andy Mitten. We need to get behind the players (Onana especially), let's not jeer / boo if he's taking too long on the ball as that does nothing except create anxiety. You may not like him being our keeper (I wouldn't blame you) but it is in your best interests to get behind him tomorrow as winning this competition is probably the only way we will be able to afford to replace him this summer.

 

[dovaris]

Every Andre Onana mistake leading to goals under Ruben Amorim

 

[hobbers]

Every Andre Onana mistake leading to goals under Ruben Amorim

We've conceded 48 goals in all comps since Amorim came in.

12 of them directly the fault of Onana. Can probably put 3 down to Bayindir as well. That's 31% of the goals conceded directly caused by us not having a Prem-standard goalkeeper.

 

[Offside]

Every Andre Onana mistake leading to goals under Ruben Amorim

Genuinely the worst keeper I’ve ever seen by a country mile. The fact that’s all in 6 months and this is his 2nd season, where he was dog shit last season.

 

[OL29]

If the story of him wanting a pay rise and bringing his agent in last week before vital game because he wants an increase and a new contract is true , then he needs to be sold immediately even at a loss!

I’m sure some team in Saudi will take him for £10m, but if the story from the Athletic is remotely true this imbecile must never play for the club again. I wound rather play any GK and get beaten on Thursday.

He represents Everything that is currently wrong with the club, he didn’t understand the 25% wage reduction for playing Europa League Football and he’s not happy which is why his form is so erratic.

I keep saying I want a British core of the best players available not because they are more expensive but because they have more affinity with the EPL, a lot of them come up through the youth ranks of multiple English teams, they understand the terrible winter weather, they understand what the fans do to support a football club and most of the time they are trying to create a wholesome comrady within the team and have shared ideologies and banter.

We need to stop recruiting foreign mercenaries, of which Andre Onana has now proven to be just that!

I can't believe people are still using players' Britishness as a measure of their attitude. By all means advocate for a British core but drop the xenephobia.

 

[The_Midfielder]

I think we can all agree Onana is not good enough but I am convinced he is better than what he has shown over the past few months. Like others in the squad, his confidence is clearly knocked.

I urge anyone going tomorrow night to listen to the last 10 minutes of the TOTD podcast with Andy Mitten. We need to get behind the players (Onana especially), let's not jeer / boo if he's taking too long on the ball as that does nothing except create anxiety. You may not like him being our keeper (I wouldn't blame you) but it is in your best interests to get behind him tomorrow as winning this competition is probably the only way we will be able to afford to replace him this summer.

I don't think he is better than that he is showing ..
He has flaws in his technique and hasn't worked on it ..
The goal against Lyon was a replica of the goal Ziyech scored against him.. last CL..

Villa knew his weakness.. so tried to have a player beside him..In their freekick last year.. which looked odd initially..

Every team knows there is a chance of scoring if we somehow hit the target ..

 

[JBG]

Genuinely the worst keeper I’ve ever seen by a country mile. The fact that’s all in 6 months and this is his 2nd season, where he was dog shit last season.

I don't think I've seen a GKer dive, or should I say not dive, like he does. He just lays down... it's so fecking weird and annoying.

I was so sold on him after that CL final, but it was just a mirage, if I would've just done a little more research, I would've found clips of him doing pretty much the same as now in an Ajax shirt or Inter shirt. Then I wouldn't have been so disappointed. Oh well we are where we are now with him and hopefully any team (don't care who, I'd even sell him to Liverpool or City) takes him off our hands.

 

[Irwin99]

A blend we need a British core and the. Great players like Mazroui, Bruno, Amad and others but we need British core and PL proven.

That summer we bought Dan James, Maguire and AwB didn’t turn out to be great in hindsight. The season completely changed for us when Bruno was signed and we scraped top 4 but that wasn’t a great window.

I do think PL proven is a good idea but smaller teams can ask for so much money, especially with British players. Palace asking for 50 million for AwB who still to this day has no England cap is a great example.

 

[The_Midfielder]

Every Andre Onana mistake leading to goals under Ruben Amorim

I had forgotten how bad he messed us up..
This is only this year ..

 

[IrishRedDevil]

At direct fault for 25% of our goals conceded under Amorim. That's horrific.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I think we can all agree Onana is not good enough but I am convinced he is better than what he has shown over the past few months. Like others in the squad, his confidence is clearly knocked.

I urge anyone going tomorrow night to listen to the last 10 minutes of the TOTD podcast with Andy Mitten. We need to get behind the players (Onana especially), let's not jeer / boo if he's taking too long on the ball as that does nothing except create anxiety. You may not like him being our keeper (I wouldn't blame you) but it is in your best interests to get behind him tomorrow as winning this competition is probably the only way we will be able to afford to replace him this summer.

All well and good, but if (when) he throws one into his own net in front of the Stretford End, I think all bets are off.

 

[DanNistelrooy]

I don't think he is better than that he is showing ..
He has flaws in his technique and hasn't worked on it ..
The goal against Lyon was a replica of the goal Ziyech scored against him.. last CL..

Villa knew his weakness.. so tried to have a player beside him..In their freekick last year.. which looked odd initially..

Every team knows there is a chance of scoring if we somehow hit the target ..

He is absolutely capable of better than what he is currently showing. Look at the end of last season and start of this - he was getting a lot of praise. He does have flaws in his game though of course and those weaknesses will always be there

All well and good, but if (when) he throws one into his own net in front of the Stretford End, I think all bets are off.

I have seen the Stretford End be on top of his back during games where he's not done much wrong in that game - the same thing with Hojlund/Zirkzee, audible groans at a bad touch - our home form has been appalling and I don't think the general negativity around the ground has helped tbh. I agree Onana not good enough and needs replacing but giving him shit tomorrow night won't help. I usually rate your posts and have listened to the podcast a fair few times too but honestly think we need to get behind him tomorrow despite how poor he's been.

 

[jem]

That summer we bought Dan James, Maguire and AwB didn’t turn out to be great in hindsight. The season completely changed for us when Bruno was signed and we scraped top 4 but that wasn’t a great window.

I do think PL proven is a good idea but smaller teams can ask for so much money, especially with British players. Palace asking for 50 million for AwB who still to this day has no England cap is a great example.

Weirdly enough, that 2019-20 transfer window (including the winter window) is looking like one of our better ones in the post-Fergie years.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

He is absolutely capable of better than what he is currently showing. Look at the end of last season and start of this - he was getting a lot of praise. He does have flaws in his game though of course and those weaknesses will always be there



I have seen the Stretford End be on top of his back during games where he's not done much wrong in that game - the same thing with Hojlund/Zirkzee, audible groans at a bad touch - our home form has been appalling and I don't think the general negativity around the ground has helped tbh. I agree Onana not good enough and needs replacing but giving him shit tomorrow night won't help. I usually rate your posts and have listened to the podcast a fair few times too but honestly think we need to get behind him tomorrow despite how poor he's been.

Yeah that's fair - I don't think he'll get shit tomorrow (actually think the crowd will get behind him) - just saying I think it could get sour if he makes a big mistake/we go out. Hopefully that won't happen though!

 

[sebsheep]

Every Andre Onana mistake leading to goals under Ruben Amorim

I feel like we've been over needlessly exaggerating the amount of errors he's made plenty of times. One of them is a header that comes back off the bar ffs

 

[United666]

The scary thing is that Bayindir performance against Newcastle would probably have been one of Onana’s more solid display in recent times