As a long term reader but a newbie poster I can't post a thread, so here goes nothing.
United since 2013:
Sir Alex Ferguson constantly spoke about the need for a transition after he's gone, and to avoid falling into the trap Liverpool fell into in the late 80s/90s. Despite the argument that Ferguson left behind a title winning squad, the truth is we had an average midfield and a defence that had 3 key players on the verge of retirement. Its a testament to SAF that he carried that team over the line, but essentially he handed Moyes a team that didn't have a central midfield, and needed 7/8 replacements. We did not prepare for life after.
Woodward:
Strangely enough, despite being an incompetent footballing CEO he's allowed his managers full control of the team affairs and signings with the exception being last summer when he vetoed Mourinho's summer targets in defence. He's a terrible negotiator and we always overpay but at the same time he isn't micro-manager, so the success or failure of the squad is really on the gaffer(s).
The Boss:
Ole does have it in himself to succeed but he needs to cultivate the '
assassin' side of his psyche more than the '
babyface' part. He now has to do the job Ferguson left vacant in 2013 and subsequent mangers made worse -- overhaul an entire team and stamp his character on the new squad.
The manager's biggest mistake so far was dropping McTominey against Arsenal. Sure, Scott would have been tired but this lad is hungry to succeed and he'd have done a job on Arsenal's weak midfield like Fletcher used to. Instead Matic literally walked back into the team and allowed to walk around the pitch giving Xhaka a 20 yard space to pick his shot with DDG failing as the last guard. It changed the momentum for United and team crashed back to earth and haven't recovered since. He persisted with Matic and Pogba when both have made it clear they're not interested in pressing other teams, and United continued losing. Other mistakes include his subs and in-game management.
He seems to take a lot of input and listen to those around him. Ole now needs to find his own inner voice and wield his authority with unseen levels of ruthlessness. My username is a play on his chummy attitude with players, another thing that he needs to alter very soon.
The Squad:
Most of us probably dislike this squad and its clear what their shortcomings are.
I say we're lucky to be losing like this, none of them can hide anymore and fool yet another manager. This is our chance for a fresh start, and as a bonus we can raise some money for new signings from the sales too.
DDG: If he can replicate his prior form, its a no brainer that he should stay, but over the summer he has to work on his distribution and overall on-the-ball abilities. If not, sell to the highest bidder and maybe even settle for Kasper Schmiechal for 2-3 seasons. The replacement does not have to be world class, Romero could even do the job in the short-term or young Dean Henderson, there are other positions which require a more urgent attention.
Lindelof: The young Swede has to be given props for the way bounced back from a terrible first season and regain his form and confidence. He deserves to stay and a start. Its a testament his strong mentality & cajones to have won the fans over this season.
Bailey: If you check his background, he only became a pro-footballer at 18-19 years old and it shows. His positioning is off the mark, to compensate for that he makes rash challenges. Can Ole drill some of the basics into his game? If the answer is no, then we should sell.
Shaw: This is where I have to disagree with the majority of the forum. Shaw has not fulfilled his potential yet and there are good reasons for it, including breaking his leg twice. He was hitting top form before that horror injury at PSV. Highlighting all his misfortunes is absolutely fair, but at the same time he can't give us what Alex Sandro and Robertson are offering their teams in offence.
Solution: Get Chillwell in, he's already flying going forward and can only improve. Swap deal with Leicester and we could troll Leicester into throwing 10-20m cash our way too by valuing Shaw higher than Chillwell? Luke may decide he's too big for Leicester but its hard to see which top team would fork out 40-50m for him on current form. This (
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...-summer-minging-running-local-park-propelled/) will give you an insight into Chillwell's mindset and the kind of man he is.
Jones, Rojo, Smalling: The less words wasted here the better, they're average plonkers trying to do an honest job but their body keeps breaking down on them for some reason unfortunately. Sell all for any price we can fetch.
Darmien, Valencia, Young: They've all overstayed at the club by 2-3 seasons already and should be shown the door. Young could perhaps stay as a distant back up, but should not play more than 10 games a season.
Dalot: Diego is being underrated in this forum. He's unfortunate that Mourinho and Ole have both showed a reluctance to play him at his natural position in RB. He can own that position next season and he's already shown that he loves the club and needs to be shown faith from the manager.
Matic, Herrera, Mata: They're all going or almost gone. Matic can be a squad player, but his lackadaisical style is too lethal for us in a Premier League that's getting faster every year with nearly all the teams applying a high press.
Pogba: Straight to the point, he's a big kid in a man's body. Paul is probably a decent guy and a fun character to be around as a mate but you can't create a hungry and motivated dressing room while the senior player in the club is more focused on haircuts, social media and his brand. Ferguson chopped Beckham for much less, and Beckham tbf was giving the team so much more than Pogba has ever come close to at the time. Sell to Real for anything over 100m.
Lingaard: Same as above, another man-child. It's sickening how he attached himself to Rashford like a parasite. There's a clear difference between the humble/shy kid Rashford was prior to this moron becoming an influence on him. If we can fetch 30-40m from any other team in the league we should grab that with both hands. Alternatively, we can use him a sweetener for deals we're trying to make.
Fred: United are stuck with him either way given the overspend of 50m. He can be a decent player for us but Ole has to play him in the right position which isn't the DM/holding role. He's too eccentric for such a role and any mistake will leave the defence exposed. Play him further forward as a CM and use his passing range.
McTominey: This lad has a big future at United and it always surprised me to see how much our fans attacked him. Sure, he's no Maradona on the ball, but he has other qualities and is technically proficient. He's aggressive, strong mentally, can play a decent pass in a tight space, and his abilities to read a game is second to none. He showed all those qualities against PSG, the area in front of Smalling & Lindelof was completely shut down by Scott and he managed to Keep Veratti out of the game at the same time. He can be United's Busuqets, unglamorous but crucial to the team.
Martial & Rashford: Both have mentality issues and a natural talent. Rashford works hard for the team but is erratic in his final delivery. Martial is extremely lazy, will not run for anyone to create space instead always wanting the ball to feet, but has a better output in and around the box. The boss has to figure out a way to motivate both of them, and potentially sell Martial if he will continue cultivating his
Le Sulk character.
Lukaku: 50% of United fans hated this transfer and he struggled to prove those critics wrong. He's a decent striker but nowhere near United's leading striker level. This is the toughest position for United to solve. There are so few world class forwards in the game at the moment. United should sell before his value plummets any further, his value will crash the more time he spends on the bench.
Sanchez: He's made enough money and is on the way out. Use this chance to restore a realistic wage structure and cap on the highest salaries.
Who should remains in summer '19:
- DDG/Romero
- Lindelof
- Axel
- Dalot
- Fosu-Mensah
- Fred
- McTominey
- Rashford
- Martial (If Ole believes he will improve his attitude)
Everyone else must go, even though this leaves United with a skeletal squad for pre-season. Keeping one rotten apple in a basket spoils the rest of the apples. Solskjaer must realise his actual role now is a
cancer surgeon, chemotherapy is a must rather than other soft-solutions. If he keeps just one free-riding slacker in the dressing room, they'll continue the rot and teach the new class how to down their tools whenever they become unsatisfied. They've already had 3 managers removed, he will be their next casualty if he doesn't draw the sword first.
How to fix the team:
The anchor of any team is the center midfield position. United have lacked a dominant CM since Scholes' first retirement. This should be the first priority for the manager whether he knows it or not.
- Rabiot must be considered given his ability and age. United has not had a midfield controller who can dictate a game since the ginger prince retired. For £0 United will have a great talent on their hand, pay him & his mother a handsome signing fee, whatever it takes.
- Chillwell who is clearly an upgrade on Shaw and a marauding wingback needed to boost United attacking capacity.
- Trust Dalot and play him week in week out with full encouragement to bomb forward.
- A new CB: Break the bank for De Ligt or Maguire. Both will offer the leadership needed in the back in a partnership with Lindelof, with Maguire being a more realistic signing. Axel also returns as a back-up and can be slowly incorporated into the team.
- McTominey has the temperament and ability to be a leader in the near future, Ajax reached the CL semi-final with a 19 year old captain, the advantage being that the lad is United through and through. He needs to play in the DM position as he did against PSG and not the more advance position Ole has tried him in recently.
- A striker: We've been linked with Icardi and Dybala, but United needs a proper #9 to lead the line and they're not the answer. This is where Ole has to find value for money, Jovic rumours say is on his way to Real and the options in this position are limited.
- If the budget permits, then we should go for Brandt or Havertz esp the latter or Brooks from B'mouth as a British option. United haven't had a technical player to link midfield and attack since god knows when. City have 3-4 players in that role from both Silva's to De Bruyne.
- RW position here we can be a little creative. There's two types of RW's, a type that goes to the line and crosses the ball, and there's a second style now pioneered by Raheem Sterling. There's no reason why we cannot use Rashford in the same manner, obviously a ton of drilling is needed over the pre-season for his movement and positioning. City and Pool leave the crossing to the full backs who are always pushing up and utilise the wide forwards closer to the box, we must do likewise.
Total spend:
Rabiot - £0
De Ligt/Maguire: 60-100m for one of them.
Chillwell - Could be signed in a swap deal for Shaw plus 10m to us.
Havertz/Brooks - 40-60m especially if we sell Pogba, we need players of this caliber to fill void.
Regarding our #9, I don't really have an answer here for who we should target. All this leaves us with under 200m spend excluding potentially the 100-200m we can raise from sales including Paul Pogba to Real potentially.