ETH: "We need new players and quality players. We will try and convince them to join." | Mirror: ETH believes FDJ will join Utd over Chelsea

[sebsheep]

Ole inherited a decent squad and made it better using his coaching and man management. That others that have followed him haven’t been able to do the same and kick on isn’t due a blot on ole. Like i said its like saying fergie’s legacy is tarnished because moyes couldn’t do any better than 7th with the squad he left him.

Yeah.... No. He really didn't. There were a few times when we put together some decent runs under him, but there were also so shocking runs that would have seen other managers sacked. Our style of football was equally as poor as under previous managers for the most part.
And the Europa League final was so badly managed.

 

[hammerfadl]

Ole inherited a decent squad and made it better using his coaching and man management. That others that have followed him haven’t been able to do the same and kick on isn’t due a blot on ole. Like i said its like saying fergie’s legacy is tarnished because moyes couldn’t do any better than 7th with the squad he left him.

How did he "make it better"?

Both of Mourinhos seasons were better in points pr game and winrate. He also got titles, albeit smaller ones.

The defence got worse and worse under Solskjaer despite the investments in it. The offense did get somewhat better, but goal difference got worse due to defence worsening quicker than attack improved.

Erik is right, we do need several new players and alot of it is due to the poor ones that got brought in by the previous manager.

 

[bucky]

I still can't get my head around the fact that we bought 3 players so far for our 3 least necessary positions... Its absolutely crazy

I'm honestly not sure how people can watch Shaw last season and for the first 2 games this season, and not come to the conclusion that we've needed a new LB.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I'm honestly not sure how people can watch Shaw last season and for the first 2 games this season, and not come to the conclusion that we've needed a new LB.

Because we needed a new GK / RB / DM / CM / Winger and Striker before that?

Given the choice I'd have gambled on Shaw regaining form/Telles being not totally awful and filled all those other positions first

 

[jeff_goldblum]

Don't like how he went on and wasted that much on Martinez. Quite frankly it was utterly daft. And the fact that he then goes on to pair him with Harry is an absolute crime.

Yeah paying Martínez in a two in front of De Gea means trusting your other centreback to deal with any aerial ball into the box singlehandedly. If that's the strategy (which it shouldn't be anyway), you want someone a lot more mobile than Maguire in that other centreback spot. As it is, any aerial ball which doesn't land directly on Maguire's head is a potential goal.

Unless we conjure up a VDS-esque keeper or a Stam-esque CB before the window closes, Martínez should only be playing as a sweeper in a back-three or as a holding mid.

 

[caid]

I used to pedal this line quite a bit & to some extent still agree but I take exception to the do well 5 times fail on the 6th, we’re at the point where the first thing that unsettled them is generally followed by some calamitous error almost immediately.

I agree that any defence that faces an attack as much as ours will have issues but some of the errors we continue to see aren’t even particularly forced but more so self-inflicted.

The only real answer would be to demolish & rebuild but I don’t see that as a plan of action for these lot.

Yeah thats fair. I feel a bit sorry for them at times, it feels like they have nowhere to hide and thats all the rest of the team does. They're reacting badly to the pressure at this point.

 

[OrcaFat]

Individually they might come good but he's targeted the wrong areas of improvement. We didn't need another CB or LB. We needed a DM, CM, RB, CF and RF. We all knew this. Ralf knew this. EtH is, seemingly, the only person in the northern hemisphere who didn't know this.

He’s trying to improve the whole squad and I’m sure he realises that midfield was, and is, the priority. He’s also trying to get a forward. He got Eriksen which gives more options in the attacking midfield areas but was also trying to get a RF. That just leaves RB which I think is also being looked at. Again, we can’t conclude that he recruited wrongly because he is still working on it.

 

[Bastian]

Yeah.... No. He really didn't. There were a few times when we put together some decent runs under him, but there were also so shocking runs that would have seen other managers sacked. Our style of football was equally as poor as under previous managers for the most part.
And the Europa League final was so badly managed.

Outside his caretaker spell, what was the longest winning run we got on? I think we were a consistent stop-start team, losing or drawing and then the false dawn "reaction".

 

[Ødegaard]

He can say it as much as he wants, he isn't going to get the support needed from the higher ups or the players.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Yeah thats fair. I feel a bit sorry for them at times, it feels like they have nowhere to hide and thats all the rest of the team does. They're reacting badly to the pressure at this point.

Exactly. Hate him or love him De Gea’s mistake was made between the ears today & he’s a supposed leader. The guy was shouting at Maguire last week for standing on the wrong side of the tunnel then couldn’t even live up to the bright lights of Brentford.

 

[paulscholes18]

If you need to convince a player to join then they are not the correct player, and you say you want quality yet want to sign Rabiot?

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

And the Europa League final was so badly managed.

The mismanagement in the Semi’s the year before gets overlooked also.

 

[bucky]

Because we needed a new GK / RB / DM / CM / Winger and Striker before that?

Given the choice I'd have gambled on Shaw regaining form/Telles being not totally awful and filled all those other positions first

Us needing players there doesn't change that we've needed a LB as well. Not sure why you would give someone a chance to regain form, who struggles with the very basics of being footballer, staying in shape. He's had 1 good season in 8 here. One of the main reasons we are in this mess is not being ruthless enough, he's one of the prime examples.

 

[NoLogo]

I think the biggest issue with this group is a lack of fight, passion and tenacity. Do the players think they've made it and set up for life once you've arrived at the club? The basic mistakes players are making is somewhat confusing and numbing.

A lot of our players unfortunately give that impression. But most of them are simply fair weather players, they have no fight them.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Us needing players there doesn't change that we've needed a LB as well. Not sure why you would give someone a chance to regain form, who struggles with the very basics of being footballer, staying in shape. He's had 1 good season in 8 here. One of the main reasons we are in this mess is not being ruthless enough, he's one of the prime examples.

Tbf he’s had 1 good season & a few good weeks under LvG, be fair to the lad.

 

[Will Singh]

2 weeks left and getting ripped by average teams wont convincing no one to join. If we get a half decent player they are here for money like the majority of the team. feck the lot of them and play the youth. I want to see the players with big egos smashed to bits.

 

[united_99]

The mismanagement in the Semi’s the year before gets overlooked also.

I can understand the semi against Sevilla, we had a paper thin squad and were just tired at that stage.
The final however, bloody hell. So much time to prepare as 2nd place in the league was confirmed ages ago. And what does he do? Starts all his attackers, leaves Rashford on when he could barely walk and almost came off about three times, not talking to Bruno before the coin toss for the penalties, having Maguire on the bench and claiming a few days before the final that hopefully he can be fit by then, when in reality his injury even kept him out from England’s first two Euro games … it’s like he fell on his head before the final!

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Us needing players there doesn't change that we've needed a LB as well. Not sure why you would give someone a chance to regain form, who struggles with the very basics of being footballer, staying in shape. He's had 1 good season in 8 here. One of the main reasons we are in this mess is not being ruthless enough, he's one of the prime examples.

Thats not the point I'm making though... The point is we had all those other positions that were more urgent then LB... Not that we shouldn't upgrade our LB

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

2 weeks left and getting ripped by average teams wont convincing no one to join. If we get a half decent player they are here for money like the majority of the team. feck the lot of them and play the youth. I want to see the players with big egos smashed to bits.

Which is exactly why we wasted this Summer with a scattergun approach. We were never winning the league this year so why are we buying a £50+mil CB & chasing an £80mil player! We should have a young, hungry squad this season instead we’ve got the same crap Ralf & OfS failed with plus a short CB.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I can understand the semi against Sevilla, we had a paper thin squad and were just tired at that stage.
The final however, bloody hell. So much time to prepare as 2nd place in the league was confirmed ages ago. And what does he do? Starts all his attackers, leaves Rashford on when he could barely walk and almost came off about three times, not talking to Bruno before the coin toss for the penalties, having Maguire on the bench and claiming a few days before the final that hopefully he can be fit by then, when in reality his injury even kept him out from England’s first two Euro games … it’s like he fell on his head before the final!

Just felt like he was happy to accept the excuses on the Semi Final loss, he was out managed but they were out resourced no matter how tired we were. The whole thing felt predictable.

 

[Amadaeus]

If he thinks Martinez, eriksen, Arnatovic, rabiot and malencia are the type of quality we need, then I rather we wait for another manager and/or a DoF before we sign any new players. It is already hard getting rid of some of our current players.

We definitely need quality players, but not the players he has identified beside de Jong.

 

[U.N.C.L.E]

If anyone thinks a world -class type player is ready to join this shit-show you’re delusional

 

[Mickeza]

I still can't get my head around the fact that we bought 3 players so far for our 3 least necessary positions... Its absolutely crazy

I’m at the stage where I just laugh when I think about it -when we signed Martinez I thought we must have one hell of a budget to splurge that much on a CB when we still need 2 CMs, RW, RB and ST. Turns out we just signed him because we could.

 

[The United]

I worry that he'll walk if he's not supported in the next few weeks.

But how did the club alone let him down? By not being able to sign FDJ and refusing to sign that striker? The ones that linked with us were hardly elite or good upcoming players and it was very late at this point. Not to mention that he pinned all his hopes on a player who never wanted to leave his club all summer while refusing to go for other similar players. Then, his comment about how he would train the current squad if he could not get the right player.


He has a big slice of the blame for this transfer mess himself.

 

[Just Hope]

Thing is with the current situation at the club you cannot bring young promising players. It is not looking good.

 

[bucky]

Thats not the point I'm making though... The point is we had all those other positions that were more urgent then LB... Not that we shouldn't upgrade our LB

And my point was that LB was just as urgent as the other positions. Considering what we've spent on Malacia, it shouldn't hamper us that much either.

Tbf he’s had 1 good season & a few good weeks under LvG, be fair to the lad.

You are correct, my bad.

 

[Greck]

2 weeks left and getting ripped by average teams wont convincing no one to join. If we get a half decent player they are here for money like the majority of the team. feck the lot of them and play the youth. I want to see the players with big egos smashed to bits.

Sure would have been nice to have a scouting department. These next 2 weeks we have to unearth gems that are low profile enough to want to come while also being talented enough to improve us. It's almost impossible even with good scouting. We're definitely going to get fleeced.

 

[sebsheep]

Outside his caretaker spell, what was the longest winning run we got on? I think we were a consistent stop-start team, losing or drawing and then the false dawn "reaction".

I'm not quite sure on the winning run stats but there we were top of the table in the 2020/21 season around Christmas/New Year.
We did also lose 6-1 to spurs earlier on in that season.
Overall a very up and down team under Ole, very much down towards the end.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

You know the problem with this? It still points back to Ole. A number of those are still at the club because Ole's signings intended to replace them turned out to be worse. Whose fault is it AWB and VDB can't displace Dalot and Fred? After 3 years the mediocre players still in the starting lineup are on the manager. He really couldn't find an upgrade on Mctominay or Fred after 3 years and several hundred million?

AWB did displace Dalot; Ole clearly preferred the former and Dalot wasn't even at United in 20/21. It is other managers who have chosen to favor Dalot and it's hard to argue it's been the right decision.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I still can't get my head around the fact that we bought 3 players so far for our 3 least necessary positions... Its absolutely crazy

It’s so mental. And the fecking leisurely pace of it all. As if we’re the only club to whom the actual start of the season doesn’t apply. Let’s bookmark the 6 points dropped so far and see how much they cost us at the end of the season.

 

[Laurencio]

But how did the club let him down? By not being able to sign FDJ and refusing to sign that striker? The ones that linked with us were hardly elite players or good upcoming players. Not to mention that he seemed to refuse to target different players earlier instead of pinning hope on a player who never wanted to leave his club and his comment that we would train the current squad if he could not get the right player.


He has a big slice of the blame for this transfer mess himself.

Shouldn't we at least have taken care to sign two midfielders (regardless of what happened with fdj), a young promising goalkeeper (when Henderson left that should have been obvious), and a physically strong striker that fit his philosophy?

All of this was an obvious need even before pre-season started...

 

[Bastian]

I'm not quite sure on the winning run stats but there we were top of the table in the 2020/21 season around Christmas/New Year.
We did also lose 6-1 to spurs earlier on in that season.
Overall a very up and down team under Ole, very much down towards the end.

I don't recall the stats, but vaguely think there may have been two occasions during his tenure as the permanent manager where we won 3 in a row. Something similarly bad. And that time we were top of the league he took the wind out of our sails with his loser approach.

 

[frostbite]

The club already fecked over this season by refusing to get any meaningful transfers in when in matterd. Full panic mode now.

It was ETH's decision to buy Martinez and Malacia with half the budget and hold the other half for Frenkie. Total will be 160 million. How much did he think he can spend in a summer? Why did he buy Martinez and Malacia and not midfielders?

 

[sebsheep]

AWB did displace Dalot; Ole clearly preferred the former and Dalot wasn't even at United in 20/21. It is other managers who have chosen to favor Dalot and it's hard to argue it's been the right decision.

AWB was terrible last season tbf and has failed to improve on the ball in his time here. We need a new RB despite Ole signing one for £50m, that definitely goes against him.

 

[Edy2]

The people that come in must have mettle. They must have a will to win and they must have pride. A lot of the current players don't have these. The current players apparently have ability but that counts for nothing without the above attributes.

There will be players out there that will want to join but is there time to get them in now and are the people in charge capable of getting them in in time? Rabiot doesn't strike me as someone who'll roll his sleeves up for a fight.

The season will be gone by October if the club doesn't act immediately.

 

[Traub]

But how did the club let him down? By not being able to sign FDJ and refusing to sign that striker? The ones that linked with us were hardly elite or good upcoming players and it was very late at this point. Not to mention that he pinned all his hopes on a player who never wanted to leave his club all summer while refusing to go for other similar players. Then, his comment about how he would train the current squad if he could not get the right player.


He has a big slice of the blame for this transfer mess himself.

I don’t think we’ve signed one of his initial targets - Timber, Antony and FdJ. He already had to compromise on CB, and basically he was told he has to keep Ronaldo. So we blaming him for FdJ, but when we can’t even get the likes of Rabiot, could we even get anyone else?

 

[The United]

Shouldn't we at least have taken care to sign two midfielders (regardless of what happened with fdj), a young promising goalkeeper (when Henderson left that should have been obvious), and a physically strong striker that fit his philosophy?

All of this was an obvious need even before pre-season started...

We absolutely should. But our club DOF is probably an amateur and ETH could be new to squad building himself at this level. When we combine those, we get this transfer mess.

 

[frostbite]

Thats not the point I'm making though... The point is we had all those other positions that were more urgent then LB... Not that we shouldn't upgrade our LB

Exactly! We have spent almost 80 million and we did not address any of the main problems (midfield and attack).

 

[Greck]

AWB did displace Dalot; Ole clearly preferred the former and Dalot wasn't even at United in 20/21. It is other managers who have chosen to favor Dalot and it's hard to argue it's been the right decision.

2 managers have marginalised AWB because they don't think he can play their style. It was a bad transfer. Don't buy players who aren't comfortable on the ball if you want to dominate games. Wouldn't even be here if we didn't make nationality a big requirement that summer window.

 

[The United]

I don’t think we’ve signed one of his initial targets - Timber, Antony and FdJ. He already had to compromise on CB, and basically he was told he has to keep Ronaldo. So we blaming him for FdJ, but when we can’t even get the likes of Rabiot, could we even get anyone else?

Well, that's what I am talking about. If you can't get your initial targets, go for similar ones. We don't. The reason why is not very clear. Maybe he didn't give the club more targets earlier? Out of all those initial targets, only FDJ MIGHT improve us. The rest would be gambles, and we absolutely do not need players like Timber, just like how we didn't need Martinez given our limited budget and holes in the squad.


Sticking with FDJ after all the Barcelona mess was ridiculous after a month, let alone wasting the whole summer for it.