Ed Woodward 2019 - Until all Arctic ice melts edition

[romufc]

That's absolute rubbish about Real We've largely out spent real in 3 of the last 5 windows mate. Also I'm absolutely certain Real chased Hazard for at least 2 seasons before finally landing him this summer, but the narrative spun is that they got him within a day. Pretty sure Barca are having a bit of a drama over Greizmann as well. They got him but it was far from easy.

Point remains, City want and need a replacement for Kompany. They haven't been able to replace this summer.

So again, its only instant gratification sorts that live in some kind of fantasy football / fifa world where they thought all our problems were magically going to vanish this summer.

The reason Real didn't spend massively is because as mentioned in the earlier quote, why fix if it's not broken? they were winning Champions Leagues. The owners were under the impression Ronaldo does not need to be replaced and Bale would take his role, and had Asensio, Isco, Vasquez all coming through, and signed Vinicius. They had one crap season and realised they need to do something and acted, got majority of transfers done early.

Barca are having drama over Griezman is not because how hard it was, it is because it was so easy, they had a agreement in March. They signed a CM as well.

City need Kompany replacement, but Pep has said they wont over pay and Fernandinho can slot into that role, they dont urgently need someone as they have Stones, Otamendi and Laporte.

No one expected everything to be solved but it is clear a RB, CM, CB were necessary.

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

I've never liked Ed Woodward. But he's got it right since January and spent wisely in the transfer window.

Does that make up for years of mismanagement. No. Would I like to see him replaced with someone more competent. Yes.

Regardless, we're finally on the right path.

In January he said we will find the right manager at the end of the season and take our time to make the correct decision. Few months later on the back of media pressure and few good results hires Ole and we proceed to have the worst run in the history of the club. He never learns and hasn't got it right since Jan (Mata, Jones, Darmian, Rojo). He will make the same mistakes again and again.

 

[Keefy18]

We will see how it all unfolds, on paper we have made progress with the squad but there are no guarantees it will translate well on the pitch. O
rivals haven't needed to improve as much as us so of course in order to reduce, we had to have had a better transfer window on paper. It is not like we beat them for certain players. Our needs and theirs are different. Their managers are much more established while ours is still a noob at this level.

There never are.

We've signed world class talented individuals for years now and its not paid off. There's no set way to guarantee success, if there was, all clubs would do it.

 

[Mr Pigeon]

What exactly does he excel at?! Other than being the Glazer's Yes Man?

"He's brought in millions of pounds in deals". We're Manchester United ffs. A dead ferret, half rotten, with two limbs missing could get this club millions of pounds in deals. All he's done is lower the threshold at which the club should say "this is becoming a little whorey". He's not progressive. None of our deals suggest to me anything other than a guy who finds an obscure company from Asia and says to them "give us money and we'll let you put our name in the same sentence as yours." It's akin to Venky's and their shit Blackburn Rovers advert, except more embarrassing because we're not owned by them.

You look at other teams and how they manage to build their off pitch reputations. Juve and City have brought out expose documentaries about their clubs. Roma take the piss out of themselves on Twitter. Bristol City have those mad videos of players whenever they score. And we have Sanchez playing piano and every player using the phrase "biggest club in the world". He might not be the head of Marketing but he's the guy in charge of the head of Marketing ffs.

And the day to day running of the club? We've changed managers and staff more than Compo changed his scivvies and we can't sell unrequired players or hire a DoF. He does literally feck all to suggest that he's some mastermind.

The chinless twat.

 

[kouroux]

There never are.

We've signed world class talented individuals for years now and its not paid off. There's no set way to guarantee success, if there was, all clubs would do it.

At United, I'd even say there are far more reasons to be cautious than optimistic

 

[romufc]

United has been a very toxic club in the last few years.

Apart from De Gea, I cannot think of one player who has played either to their ability or improved over a season.

Whereas, City and Pool - Almost every player is at the top of their game, and average players have been turned into world beaters.

 

[Keefy18]

The reason Real didn't spend massively is because as mentioned in the earlier quote, why fix if it's not broken? they were winning Champions Leagues. The owners were under the impression Ronaldo does not need to be replaced and Bale would take his role, and had Asensio, Isco, Vasquez all coming through, and signed Vinicius. They had one crap season and realised they need to do something and acted, got majority of transfers done early.

Barca are having drama over Griezman is not because how hard it was, it is because it was so easy, they had a agreement in March. They signed a CM as well.

City need Kompany replacement, but Pep has said they wont over pay and Fernandinho can slot into that role, they dont urgently need someone as they have Stones, Otamendi and Laporte.

No one expected everything to be solved but it is clear a RB, CM, CB were necessary.

Two problems with that first bold part, 1) ZZ wanted investment. He left because of lack of investment so clearly it was broken. He wanted to build on what he had already done and 2) closer to home, when the Glazers under invested around the time of our title wins and last CL win folks still hold onto it and say it was negligence. Can't have it both ways in praising Real whilst saying the Glazers fecked up for doing the same.

They haven't had 1 crap season either mate, they've finished 3rd the last 2 seasons in a 2 horse race.

Why is it that when Real spend wildly they are reacting to a poor season? But when we spend big there's no plan, its a mess and they board don't care?

If Real are so fecking great like your professing, what's their plan? Have their signings addressed key areas? They've had a woeful pre season and the pressure is already on ZZ and there's huge, huge talk of Perez desperate to hire Jose again.

 

[Lynty]

In January he said we will find the right manager at the end of the season and take our time to make the correct decision. Few months later on the back of media pressure and few good results hires Ole and we proceed to have the worst run in the history of the club. He never learns and hasn't got it right since Jan (Mata, Jones, Darmian, Rojo). He will make the same mistakes again and again.

Giving it Ole was the right decision at the time. I don't think Poch was ever an option. Ten Haag was the dream for me, but if someone aces their 'interview' it forces your hand.

If we let Mata, Jones, Darmian and Rojo leave, we would be going into a vital season with Thursday night football and without squad depth. We haven't had any serious offers for these players and obviously don't have the money to replace them all.

I'm not sure what you expected to happen this window?

 

[romufc]

Two problems with that first bold part, 1) ZZ wanted investment. He left because of lack of investment so clearly it was broken. He wanted to build on what he had already done and 2) closer to home, when the Glazers under invested around the time of our title wins and last CL win folks still hold onto it and say it was negligence. Can't have it both ways in praising Real whilst saying the Glazers fecked up for doing the same.

They haven't had 1 crap season either mate, they've finished 3rd the last 2 seasons in a 2 horse race.

Why is it that when Real spend wildly they are reacting to a poor season? But when we spend big there's no plan, its a mess and they board don't care?

If Real are so fecking great like your professing, what's their plan? Have their signings addressed key areas? They've had a woeful pre season and the pressure is already on ZZ and there's huge, huge talk of Perez desperate to hire Jose again.

Oh I agree, we have a big group of hypocritical fans on here. The times when we won CL we had Fergie, we cannot say anything, he knew how to get the best out of players. But like Arsenal, it was Fergie's principles that meant we didnt spend. I.E Lucas Moura and Hazard. Since Fergie left we have absolutely smashed the wage structure and transfer fee structure.

I wouldn't say Real Madrid have a plan, ZZ wanted money to be spent but Real Madrid are known to target galacticos. I am praising them for getting their business done early, not praising their signings. Tbh I prefer the Ole method of getting players who will play for the team. We could have easily signed a different CB and Rb but Ole wanted a specific mould.

I just hope Ed is backing him in Midfield where we lack quality.

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

Giving it Ole was the right decision at the time. I don't think Poch was ever an option. Ten Haag was the dream for me, but if someone aces their 'interview' it forces your hand.

If we let Mata, Jones, Darmian and Rojo leave, we would be going into a vital season with Thursday night football and without squad depth. We haven't had any serious offers for these players and obviously don't have the money to replace them all.

I'm not sure what you expected to happen this window?

Ole decision could have been delayed to the end of the season like Ed had said. There was no need to make the decision early and at the end of the season we wouldn't have made the same decision of hiring him. Now we are hoping for the best.

Jones and Rojo are not going to be playing much any way so should be shown the door and the minutes given to Axel. Mata doesn't offer anything in Ole's system and has been stinking it up more than Lukaku I would say. Darmian is the only one I would say offers utility but he gets the least look in so why keep him.

Ed has not changed. He makes the same poor decisions over and over.

 

[Keefy18]

Oh I agree, we have a big group of hypocritical fans on here. The times when we won CL we had Fergie, we cannot say anything, he knew how to get the best out of players. But like Arsenal, it was Fergie's principles that meant we didnt spend. I.E Lucas Moura and Hazard. Since Fergie left we have absolutely smashed the wage structure and transfer fee structure.

I wouldn't say Real Madrid have a plan, ZZ wanted money to be spent but Real Madrid are known to target galacticos. I am praising them for getting their business done early, not praising their signings. Tbh I prefer the Ole method of getting players who will play for the team. We could have easily signed a different CB and Rb but Ole wanted a specific mould.

I just hope Ed is backing him in Midfield where we lack quality.

Agree with pretty much all this.

So many blatant contradictions & double standards in our fan base and when you pull them up on it, you just get dogs abuse.

Well he's supported 100% so far so no reason why to believe he won't back him on a CM. If we don't get CM it could just be a case of Ole not finding a suitable signing though. As you say, it seems he is being extremely particular with regards who is signing.

Losing Ferguson was always going to have a huge, huge impact on how we performed in the years after. To confound that loss, we hired a moron in Moyes who sacked all the coaching staff that worked with Fergie. Fast forward another year and all the players that was the spine of that successful team had all left.

None of this is considered though and folks just run with the simplistic approach of blame and just say feck it, Eds fault.

Most of the damage listed there was already done pre Woodward.

 

[romufc]

Agree with pretty much all this.

So many blatant contradictions & double standards in our fan base and when you pull them up on it, you just get dogs abuse.

Well he's supported 100% so far so no reason why to believe he won't back him on a CM. If we don't get CM it could just be a case of Ole not finding a suitable signing though. As you say, it seems he is being extremely particular with regards who is signing.

Losing Ferguson was always going to have a huge, huge impact on how we performed in the years after. To confound that loss, we hired a moron in Moyes who sacked all the coaching staff that worked with Fergie. Fast forward another year and all the players that was the spine of that successful team had all left.

None of this is considered though and folks just run with the simplistic approach of blame and just say feck it, Eds fault.

Most of the damage listed there was already done pre Woodward.

Agree on most of it, but I still feel we need someone else other than Ed looking at Footballing side of things.

I agree about the Moyes era etc, we needed a rebuild anyway, only Fergie knows how he won the league with the squad he had tbh.

The CM is interesting because he feels McT is ready to partner Pogba and Matic, Fred can fill in. If a CM comes he has to be better than Matic, McT, and Fred. I cannot see many around who are young and interested in United?

The managers we got in were a bit questionable in their decisions. Van Gaal didn't have a style which we could see developing, he knew it was his last project, Jose again every fan was calling for Jose but we all knew 3rd season would be trouble but we all thought he would win us the league before then.

But the decisions made by those manage's mainly Jose to bring in 2 new CB's and not look to replace the RB. Bring in LW in Sanchez when we had deficiency in RW and Fred from the Ukrainan league. All very questionable decisions and then throwing a strop when Ed didnt back him on Perisic and CB. I somewhat agree with Ed, you have spent money on players yet there is no team here.

Ole seems to be building a team that can grow and challenge together, it's about team spirit, getting players to work for each other.

 

[Lynty]

Ole decision could have been delayed to the end of the season like Ed had said. There was no need to make the decision early and at the end of the season we wouldn't have made the same decision of hiring him. Now we are hoping for the best.

Ed has not changed. He makes the same poor decisions over and over.

Not all fans are hoping for the best. It's not as if Ole came and got lucky for 10 weeks. He implemented a new system almost instantly. We saw he had a goal and methods for achieving it. He's identified and strengthened our weakest areas from last season. We've invested heavily in top youth talent. This is a long term project and it needed someone committed to United for the long term. Other short term solutions have been tried and failed.

If Jose Mourinho can't get you results out of pure pragmatism, then what guarantee does Poch or Ten Haag have?

Jones and Rojo are not going to be playing much any way so should be shown the door and the minutes given to Axel. Mata doesn't offer anything in Ole's system and has been stinking it up more than Lukaku I would say. Darmian is the only one I would say offers utility but he gets the least look in so why keep him.

It needs to be worthwhile for us. Nobody made us an offer that was worthwhile. As it stands, they're viable squad options, especially in Europe. And you don't let that experience walk away for free.

Jones paid £2.6m for this season
Mata paid £8.5m for this season
Rojo paid £4.1m for this season
Darmian paid £2.3m for this season

So if nobody made a serious bid for them, you would be happy to let these players go? To save a grand total of £17.5m.

 

[Godfather]

This guy needs to be kicked out. Tell anyone before this window we would only get one CB one RB and a completely unproven youngster and you'd get laughed at. Now that it has become reality the usual suspects come out and try to claim this has been a good window because our youth will get a chance. The reality is that with the squad at hand top 4 will be a huge huge struggle again.

 

[Escobar]

United has been a very toxic club in the last few years.

Apart from De Gea, I cannot think of one player who has played either to their ability or improved over a season.

Whereas, City and Pool - Almost every player is at the top of their game, and average players have been turned into world beaters.

We are toxic I‘m afraid. We have the wrong players, give them wrong incentives, hire the wrong managers, cant improve our team and and and....

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

Was just listening to totally football show season preview and it was absolutely brutal for United. All 3 pundits talked about United being run in an amatuer way and even though all of them grew up hating united even they just felt embarrassed by the way the club was run.

 

[fps]

I'm very surprised about the negativity towards the signings which HAVE been made. Two first-teamers who are clear improvements over what was previously available, with plenty of years in front of them and PL ready, will seal up a dangerously porous defence. One promising winger who's a longer-term punt.

I understand there are other areas to strengthen, but Dybala was a white elephant and would have been a disaster as a reluctant signing.

The disappointment is the lack of a central midfield signing.

 

[Tincanalley]

Ed is an embarrassment. Will I list the sources? Will I name the players, the coaches, the scouts? Will I run the story one more time? How often do we need to be embarrassed? How often do committed and passionate players/staff need to be disrespected? This guy is a virus. Of course he is the lapdog of hideous owner slime, but that's another story. Ed, please feck off from Manchester United, a club I love.

 

[haram]

He’S nOt ThE pRoBlEm!!1!

 

[KiD MoYeS]

The defence has been addressed. As much as Woodward has been central to the steady decline at Manchester United, surely someone in the club identified the need for midfield reinforcements and had scouted possible targets other than Longstaff?

 

[Infra-red]

The defence has been addressed. As much as Woodward has been central to the steady decline at Manchester United, surely someone in the club identified the need for midfield reinforcements and had scouted possible targets other than Longstaff?

Probably giving Woodward and co a bit too much credit there.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

The defence has been addressed. As much as Woodward has been central to the steady decline at Manchester United, surely someone in the club identified the need for midfield reinforcements and had scouted possible targets other than Longstaff?

Even if so, it doesn't appear that Woodward is capable of working on more than one deal at a time. That, coupled with his tendency to waste time getting caught up in unrealistic transfer sagas, is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm very surprised about the negativity towards the signings which HAVE been made. Two first-teamers who are clear improvements over what was previously available, with plenty of years in front of them and PL ready, will seal up a dangerously porous defence. One promising winger who's a longer-term punt.

I understand there are other areas to strengthen, but Dybala was a white elephant and would have been a disaster as a reluctant signing.

The disappointment is the lack of a central midfield signing.

This sums up where I’m at.

 

[Sandikan]

There is a certain irony that people are still abusing Woodward when we've literally just pulled off a world transfer record for a defender.

 

[Adisa]

Sad part is we aren't far off having a decent side.

 

[Sandikan]

I'm very surprised about the negativity towards the signings which HAVE been made. Two first-teamers who are clear improvements over what was previously available, with plenty of years in front of them and PL ready, will seal up a dangerously porous defence. One promising winger who's a longer-term punt.

I understand there are other areas to strengthen, but Dybala was a white elephant and would have been a disaster as a reluctant signing.

The disappointment is the lack of a central midfield signing.

AWB and Maguire were clearly well thought out targeted signings.
James looks a promising, low risk signing.

Dybala looked a totally opportunistic signing - and those are a little worrying, as they smack of not having any plan, and thus trying to shoehorn them in.
We all know we've done that to our peril a few times recently.

Yes, we know we could do with a natural right sided attacker, and a starting midfielder.
However, who knows if McTom, Fred or even Perreira might step up?

Lindelöf was slated by almost everyone for a long while, and now seems to be lauded as some key starter (not by me, but i'm still willing him to do well) Who says Fred can't be the midfielder equivalent of that this year?

 

[haram]

If Rashford and Martial do not cut it next season I refuse to blame them. Ed Woodward is setting us up for failure. fecking coward.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Only signing 2 first team players, there's no way he can think that's good enough!

 

[Bastian]

This sums up where I’m at.

Has there really been disappointment with the signings we've made though? As far as I can tell Wan-Bissaka has the whole Caf in love with him. Maguire is also almost universally seen as massively improving our defense. And most people rate Daniel James and have been very pleasantly surprised by him. All good signings. But it's not enough. If we were already a good team and playing well, this would be a great transfer window. 2 quality additions and a promising youngster. It's not just where we finished, it's the football that we played in the last 2-3 months of the season. Midfield is obviously an area that desperately needs addressing now, rather than later. And the disappointment is not just about particular positions, but the big need that was evident from March onwards which meant we had ample time to get things rolling.

The "rate the window" thread has many posters giving this 5/10 (also my rating) but most point out that the business that's been done is very good. One quality midfielder for the first XI and we're in a different place altogether.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

The only conclusion you can draw is that we just do not have a plan at all, you don't chase Dybala (when he wasn't even needed) during the most important phase of the transfer window, and just walk away, and then claim we alright in that position anyway, so nothing to worry about, why the hell chase him then?

And do this whilst clearly not doing anything else (one transfer at a time), when we are absolutely desperate in midfield, now we're feigning interest in Erikson, just so we can pretend we have 'tried'.

I'm sure the next line will be that SSN James Cooper repeating about how 'relaxed' we are about the 'situation', well lets see how far we get with this midfield, it's going to kill us all season long.

 

[BusbyMalone]

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Has there really been disappointment with the signings we've made though? As far as I can tell Wan-Bissaka has the whole Caf in love with him. Maguire is also almost universally seen as massively improving our defense. And most people rate Daniel James and have been very pleasantly surprised by him. All good signings. But it's not enough. If we were already a good team and playing well, this would be a great transfer window. 2 quality additions and a promising youngster. It's not just where we finished, it's the football that we played in the last 2-3 months of the season. Midfield is obviously an area that desperately needs addressing now, rather than later. And the disappointment is not just about particular positions, but the big need that was evident from March onwards which meant we had ample time to get things rolling.

The "rate the window" thread has many posters giving this 5/10 (also my rating) but most point out that the business that's been done is very good. One quality midfielder for the first XI and we're in a different place altogether.

When I say it’s where I’m at, I just mean that I’m very pleaser with the players we have signed but bemused by the lack of a CM (and how the Lukaku situation gets resolved) Basically the same as 90% of United fans, I reckon.

 

[Bastian]

When I say it’s where I’m at, I just mean that I’m very pleaser with the players we have signed but bemused by the lack of a CM (and how the Lukaku situation gets resolved) Basically the same as 90% of United fans, I reckon.

Yeah, same boat then.

 

[Sterling Archer]

The only conclusion you can draw is that we just do not have a plan at all, you don't chase Dybala (when he wasn't even needed) during the most important phase of the transfer window, and just walk away, and then claim we alright in that position anyway, so nothing to worry about, why the hell chase him then?

And do this whilst clearly not doing anything else (one transfer at a time), when we are absolutely desperate in midfield, now we're feigning interest in Erikson, just so we can pretend we have 'tried'.

I'm sure the next line will be that SSN James Cooper repeating about how 'relaxed' we are about the 'situation', well lets see how far we get with this midfield, it's going to kill us all season long.

That's why all of this is so strange. I don't know what to believe. But the facts are we are two days away from the window closing and we will see a ton of creative and needed midfielders and forwards move.

We better fecking sign one.

 

[Infra-red]

6th again, would be my guess.

 

[dannyrhinos89]

Well our season is finished before a balls even been kicked. Fully expect wolves and Everton to finish above us this season.

It’s taken this feckwit months to sign 3 players That weren’t even hard to communicate with. It’s not as if they were having to jet between countries and uses translators etc. All were within driving distance ffs. It should NOT take all this time to sign 3 British players.

 

[fps]

AWB and Maguire were clearly well thought out targeted signings.
James looks a promising, low risk signing.

Dybala looked a totally opportunistic signing - and those are a little worrying, as they smack of not having any plan, and thus trying to shoehorn them in.
We all know we've done that to our peril a few times recently.

Yes, we know we could do with a natural right sided attacker, and a starting midfielder.
However, who knows if McTom, Fred or even Perreira might step up?

Lindelöf was slated by almost everyone for a long while, and now seems to be lauded as some key starter (not by me, but i'm still willing him to do well) Who says Fred can't be the midfielder equivalent of that this year?

Absolutely right about Lindelof, I'm a massive fan of the guy now, I see him improving a lot season on season. Fred's touch and passing though - he genuinely misplaces 10 yard passes, and did so in important moments last season. His touch I don't trust, he had no composure out there. I would like him to be much better this season, and he seems to have a good attitude, and will now be a lot more settled. So perhaps you're right, for the scouts to consider him worth £52m one season and scrap him the next might make them look very bad. I have huge concerns over him though.

 

[Infra-red]

Well our season is finished before a balls even been kicked. Fully expect wolves and Everton to finish above us this season.

They may do, it will be much closer than last year. I think if we can hold on to Lukaku, we might keep our noses ahead of them.

 

[laughtersassassin]

I'm very surprised about the negativity towards the signings which HAVE been made. Two first-teamers who are clear improvements over what was previously available, with plenty of years in front of them and PL ready, will seal up a dangerously porous defence. One promising winger who's a longer-term punt.

I understand there are other areas to strengthen, but Dybala was a white elephant and would have been a disaster as a reluctant signing.

The disappointment is the lack of a central midfield signing.

The disappointment is not with the signs we made, its the ones we haven't. All our signings are good/make sense but they do not occur in a vacuum.

As it stands I would rate our window 5.5 out of 10. Good signings but not enough problems fixed.

If Maguire is our last man incoming and Lukaku leaves it then drops then to around a 2/10 as we would have spent feck all and created as many problems as we fixed.

Look at some facts to see why our current business while good can not be considered great.

1. Pogba is our ONLY midfielder definitely good enough for a top team. McTominay is looking good buy lets not overrate him. Matic is now truly a bottom 10 team player. Andreas has not progressed as of yet. Fred is the most up and down player I have seen in a long time and midfield is not a place for inconsistencies as big as his. SO with Herrera and Fellaini gone that leaves us with at best 1 midfielder needed but ideally 2. 3 if Pogba left.

2. We still don't own a RW. Yes we are probably waiting for Sancho BUT if we miss CL then that was a waste of time.

3. If Lukaku leaves and we dont buy a Striker/Winger we are down a good 15+ goals. Lingard and Mata won't be making them up and those two will see more of the extra minutes than Greenwood Gomes and Chong imo.

So yes while our signings are good we are 1 player sale away from it being an awful window IF the lukaku money is not all reinvested this window. And right now the reports suggest this could very well happen.

 

[Sandikan]

Absolutely right about Lindelof, I'm a massive fan of the guy now, I see him improving a lot season on season. Fred's touch and passing though - he genuinely misplaces 10 yard passes, and did so in important moments last season. His touch I don't trust, he had no composure out there. I would like him to be much better this season, and he seems to have a good attitude, and will now be a lot more settled. So perhaps you're right, for the scouts to consider him worth £52m one season and scrap him the next might make them look very bad. I have huge concerns over him though.

I think we all did from the word go, and apart from having a lot of energy and getting about, doesn't look at home at all.
Maybe he'd do better without a Pogba type in there, but that's not something we can afford to find out!