Are we ready for the start of the season?

LordSpud said:
Luckily the season ends after 5 games, lel.

We have shit the bed. It started off well but Yoro got injured right away and we've not really seen Zirkzee at all. I predict he will pick up an injury too before the first International break much like Mount did last year.

INEOS finding out the hard way what an absolute shit show Woody, Arnold and Murtough left us in I suppose. Not optimistic at all.
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I agree on the last paragraph, it will take years until clubs don’t hold out against us for more money (which looks to be exactly what’s happening now) because they think we’ll fold under pressure and pay extra.

On the team though, we do have good players throughout the team it’s just getting a run of games together in my opinion and building some momentum. Think we’ll do ok.
 
Not ideally, where we are today with Yoro and Hojlund already out. Still think this squad is good enough for top 4, with the addition of a DM. Just don’t understand why we seem to be ignoring the midfield. It’s by far our biggest problem.
 
If we buy a good defensive midfielder then I think we will be ok. Striker position is looking much better with the addition of Zirkzee which was a massive problem last year.

On the wings we have lots of options and we also have plenty of choice at attacking midfield. Central midfield is definitely our big red flag, and obviously left back.

Not that arsed if we don't sign another central defender as long as Martinez can stay fit we will survive.
 
Put it this way, if the Glazers were fully responsible for the transfer window we’ve had so far, there would be riots.
We must really be skint.
 
We knew there was no quick fix to the years of misspending and recklessness in the transfer market , and that is how it is playing out.

It was always going to take multiple windows before we started to sort things out , it looks like we are going to struggle again this season and like it or no we are just going to have show some patience.
 
We're not, but I'm happy to watch us play again. Until kick-off probably.

Really hope we get De Ligt and a CDM done before the season starts.
 
Club football has been away for a while so some have forgotten just how poor we were last year. At no point last season did we consistently outperform our opponents, every game felt like a battle for points.

The only positives are Zirkzee for Martial and Amad being a guaranteed first teamer. Yoro for Varane was a straight swap and the former is out for 3 months.

Remember this is a team with no clear strengths, not great at defending, scoring or creating, or in possession. We are so far from ready it's not even funny.

We haven't changed manager so I don't see why we shouldn't expect more of the same especially with only one active signing.
 
We needed to take a chance and get these deals done. The likes of Chelsea and Arsenal just push financial rules to the limit and worry about sales later.

We should have pushed on, brought in what we needed and made sure we were on track for a better season with a settled squad.

Going into the season half broken again with average players that wouldn’t get a game for Spurs or Palace and expecting different results.
 
I can't believe we are 10days out from league starting and we've the same midfield as last season minus armabat. We are a joke.
 
As things stand now, we should be a bit better but not where want to be.

If Martinez and Shaw start from start of the season and with Zirkzee replacing Rashford, we should be good enough for bottom clubs but not ready for top half.

We really need midfield enforcements and hope we get some.
 
A lot of squads haven't really strengthened in a sense. Brentford have basically done nothing because they sold Raya, whom they didn't have, and bought a striker for the same fee who is out for the rest of the year.

Palace sold Olise and replaced him with Ismaile Sarr.

Everton, hard to say.

Fulham lost Palhinha and bouth ESR. Overall weaker exchange.

Liverpool lost Klopp and have done nothing in the player market.

Newcastle did some weird business that ultimately doesn't affect their first team compared to what it was last season.

Spurs managed to get rid off a lot of chaff and bought for the future.

Wolves sold Kilman for a lot of money and bought some Portuguese speakers so they probably did well.

City have basically done nothing.
Arsenal have strengthened.
Don't think there's a degree of expertise to acquire to be able to judge Chelsea's transfer business.
Brighton, West Ham and Bournemouth and the new teams have spent money.

Relatively to the league we have done quite a bit by buying 2 players, selling Greenwood and some bit part players and lightening the wage purse significantly. Just sucks that our signings haven't been involved and we've still not seen a lot of players in action because they've been on holiday so it's hard to gauge exactly. Our midfield is still weak and probably requires us to sell McTominay to improve.
 
Total transfers for this league (when this was written)

Expense: 1.3 billion
Income: 885 million
Difference: -425 million

Last season's summer window:

Expense: 2.79 billion
Income: 1.52 billion
Difference: -1.27 billion

Huuuuuuge difference between the summer windows. Suggests that there's still lot to be done from teams.
 
I'm excited to see Jonny Evans is still in the squad.
 
I wonder what are the players thinking. As of now it's looking likely we will be using our second striker Scott McTominay as a Defensive Midfielder because he's the only one that has the physicality to play that position (forget about the skills, beggars can't be choosers).

I've said many times last season, it almost feels to me like Casemiro is playing for fun and not really taking it serious. Did he lose faith in the manager, tactics, the team? I guess we'll find out soon if that's still the case. But I don't remember when was the last time there was so much negativity/ little hope for a good season at a start of a campaign.
 
Ready to have another transitioning season where we struggle to even finish in the Europa places.

ETH looks like a manager that needs specific skillsets in each position and struggles to adapt otherwise. Will be another season of very mixed results, just relying on individual quality to bail us out.

Skip to 25/26 already.
 
I don't know about the club but I'm certainly not ready. I could do with another month without football after suffering through last season.
 
Xeque_279 said:
Ready to have another transitioning season where we struggle to even finish in the Europa places.

ETH looks like a manager that needs specific skillsets in each position and struggles to adapt otherwise. Will be another season of very mixed results, just relying on individual quality to bail us out.

Skip to 25/26 already.
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He’s brought in a hefty amount of the squad. How much more specific does he need?
 
Borys said:
I wonder what are the players thinking. As of now it's looking likely we will be using our second striker Scott McTominay as a Defensive Midfielder because he's the only one that has the physicality to play that position (forget about the skills, beggars can't be choosers).

I've said many times last season, it almost feels to me like Casemiro is playing for fun and not really taking it serious. Did he lose faith in the manager, tactics, the team? I guess we'll find out soon if that's still the case. But I don't remember when was the last time there was so much negativity/ little hope for a good season at a start of a campaign.
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I can’t imagine our new owner, singling him out, saying he thought his signing was a shining example of everything the club had been doing wrong for the last decade, was motivational.

While his deterioration preceded the eventual take over, it probably hasn’t been helpful in him giving it his all and recovering his form.

Despite Casemiro saying he spoke to Ratcliffe and they understand each other, his efforts on the pitch indicate that maybe those were just empty words.
 
BuzzKillington said:
I can’t imagine our new owner, singling him out, saying he thought his signing was a shining example of everything the club had been doing wrong for the last decade, was motivational.

While his deterioration preceded the eventual take over, it probably hasn’t been helpful in him giving it his all and recovering his form.

Despite Casemiro saying he spoke to Ratcliffe and they understand each other, his efforts on the pitch indicate that maybe those were just empty words.
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I never got that actually, thanks for mentioning it. I guess after hearing those quotes I would also like to prove him wrong tbh - even if that was SJR intention to "trigger" Casemiro, I'd say this was a wrong move as we really should get rid of him.
 
Borys said:
I never got that actually, thanks for mentioning it. I guess after hearing those quotes I would also like to prove him wrong tbh - even if that was SJR intention to "trigger" Casemiro, I'd say this was a wrong move as we really should get rid of him.
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I think it can go either way, it either motivates you or the opposite. Given how it’s gone, I agree with you and think we should look to get rid asap.

It won’t help with PSR given the large loss we’ll take, but it may help team spirit and cohesion.
 
George The Best said:
Not ideally, where we are today with Yoro and Hojlund already out. Still think this squad is good enough for top 4, with the addition of a DM. Just don’t understand why we seem to be ignoring the midfield. It’s by far our biggest problem.
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Are we really better than Spurs, Villa and Chelsea? I doubt that even if we sign Ugarte.
 
BuzzKillington said:
I think it can go either way, it either motivates you or the opposite. Given how it’s gone, I agree with you and think we should look to get rid asap.

It won’t help with PSR given the large loss we’ll take, but it may help team spirit and cohesion.
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This is my worry. Squad-wise I don't think we're that far off, assuming we can get a DM and shift Casemiro to backup role. But squad morale - with the likes of demotivated Casemiro, Antony being stuck "out of his league" and Sancho not really "burying a hatchet" is far from ideal.
 
Rozay said:
Well given literally half of our first team have yet to kick a ball for us since last season, of course not. But that’s to be expected, given half of our first team are yet to kick a ball for us.
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"I'm gonna go get the papers, get the papers."
 
No, we have one central midfielder we can depend on and he's 19.
 
sullydnl said:
Our two first games league games are Fulham at home and Brighton away.

Even last season, bad as we were, we won in those two fixtures.

And as it stands we're currently in a better position in terms of injuries than we were for much of last season, with multiple notionally key players who were injured for extended periods last season currently fit (Martinez, Shaw, Mainoo, Mount, Casemiro, etc.). And where Hojlund being injured last season meant no striker, we've added one in the shape of Zirkzee.

Obviously we're not fully up to speed in terms of fitness due to the curtailed pre-season for many players, but that's the same with many clubs. We should still be prepared enough for an opening pair of games we won in worse conditions last season, certainly enough for it not to be an excuse if we lose.

The hope is that we've strengthened a bit more beyond that by the time we face Liverpool on September 1st.
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We didn't. We lost to Fulham at home.
 
We need two midfielders, one CB and one RB.

Especially the midfield must be improved very soon!!!!!!

We only have Mainoo there and he is maybe not ready to start against Fulham.

Pre-season Casemiro doesn't look great.

McTominay: Sell him!!!!

Eriksen: A player for 20-30 minutes

Collyer: He looked good in pre-season but we can't put too much pressure on him.
 
We’ll bring more in before the window closes, but no we do not seem at all prepared for Fulham next Friday.

This is a project that’s going to take time. I’d rather this than panic-buying another Antony or Maguire for £80m a piece.
 
Zirkzee is a good addition, but with Yoro injured, and Kamwala and Varane "sold", we haven't actually improved the squad much.

We look slightly more cohesive in our buildup, but there are significant limitations in our squad we need to adress sooner rather than later.
 
BabySinclair said:
We need two midfielders, one CB and one RB.

Especially the midfield must be improved very soon!!!!!!

We only have Mainoo there and he is maybe not ready to start against Fulham.

Pre-season Casemiro doesn't look great.

McTominay: Sell him!!!!

Eriksen: A player for 20-30 minutes

Collyer: He looked good in pre-season but we can't put too much pressure on him.
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We don’t really need a centre half. We currently have 4 fit senior ones, and one injured one. It’s an area we could improve, if someone leaves, but it’s not a crisis at all. I think people are just reeling off positions at this point, and this is not reality. According to these lists we need 6 or 7 in at all times. We have 5 senior centre halves and two senior right backs, those are non-urgent positions.

I do appreciate that numbers are not everything, but players like Maguire, Lindelof snd Wan-Bissaka are also capable of contributing at a much better level than the likes of Collyer and Eriksen, which makes the midfield area more pressing for me. It’s our most urgent first team issue, as we had two defensive midfielders, then Amrabat left and now we have one.
 
Rozay said:
We don’t really need a centre half. We currently have 4 fit senior ones, and one injured one. It’s an area we could improve, if someone leaves, but it’s not a crisis at all. I think people are just reeling off positions at this point, and this is not reality. According to these lists we need 6 or 7 in at all times. We have 5 senior centre halves and two senior right backs, those are non-urgent positions.

I do appreciate that numbers are not everything, but players like Maguire, Lindelof snd Wan-Bissaka are also capable of contributing at a much better level than the likes of Collyer and Eriksen, which makes the midfield area more pressing for me. It’s our most urgent first team issue, as we had two defensive midfielders, then Amrabat left and now we have one.
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Maguire and Lindelöf have showed they can only be back-ups for top clubs.

Martinez is great but too injury-prone.....he needs to stay this season otherwise he must be replaced in the starting-eleven next season.

Evans is the fifth choice and shouldn't play more than 10 matches.

De Ligt would give us so many more options.
 
crackers0seven said:
I can't believe we are 10days out from league starting and we've the same midfield as last season minus armabat. We are a joke.
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Yeah fully agree with this. We are totally poor in midfield and in creating chances and we only brought in 2 strikers, a goalkeeper, an 18 yo CB and injury prone Mason Mount to the club. And according to news we are mainly working on getting another CB in and get a RB instead of AWB who doesn’t seem much of an improvement. How the hell can anyone believe that our football is going to look less dull. And all the players we have been discussing who don’t seem good enough to start are still there.
 
The squad looks miles off to me still. I worry it will be panic stations after the first few games again.
 
BabySinclair said:
Maguire and Lindelöf have showed they can only be back-ups for top clubs.

Martinez is great but too injury-prone.....he needs to stay this season otherwise he must be replaced in the starting-eleven next season.

Evans is the fifth choice and shouldn't play more than 10 matches.

De Ligt would give us so many more options.
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What we MIGHT have to do with Martinez next summer is obviously not relevant this summer. So that’s Martinez agreed as a current satisfactory option.

Maguire and Lindelof have shown they are not elite, but useful backups for top clubs. I think the club recognised that, and went and bought and elite prospect, who will be given priority with these experienced options we agree upon as alternatives.

Evans is fifth choice indeed. Good to see that our options afford us having even a fifth choice.

De Ligt WOULD give us more options, of course. It would give us the option to play De Ligt, which we don’t have currently. Two, or three additional centre halves would give us even more options still. The question is how many options do we need? By your own criteria , De Ligt himself has only shown himself to be a rotational option at a top club, so what would signing him actually achieve? Would it give us a world class/elite centre half to go straight into our XI? Or would it give us another good centre half to go with our existing collection of good centre halves?

If we sell one, by all means - buy him. However, if we do not sell one, there’s no world where we are ‘short’ by not buying him. We have enough defenders, and you’re not even advocating we go and buy an established world class one. Having De Ligt instead of Maguire doesn’t transform us at all IMO, any increase is marginal and of far less urgency than the joke of a midfield we have.
 
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