Pogback !
Guaranteed successful signings
- Thread starter eire-red
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Feel like every Madrid’s signing is a guaranteed success this days.
Might sound a little daft but Luke Shaw. Looked like he was turning into a world beater until the leg break. Still brilliant on his day, but not to level it looked like he was going to reach.
Morgan Schneiderlin felt like another too. Not a in a game changing sense, but looked to be a shrewd acquisition to anchor the midfield.
Morgan Schneiderlin felt like another too. Not a in a game changing sense, but looked to be a shrewd acquisition to anchor the midfield.
No mention of Veron yet? Really thought he would take us to the next level
Rooney, Saha, Nani, Keane, Rio, Carrick, Eric, Cole, RvP, van der Sar all nailed on.
Miguel Veloso is my Roman empire.
Nah there were definitely doubts about Carrick until we won the CL really.
What a player mind you.
I thought Pogba would springboard us to title success. Still not over the disappointment really.
It was nailed on that Rooney would be a world beater for us.
It was nailed on that Rooney would be a world beater for us.
I was obsessed with the idea of us signing one of Veloso, Moutinho or Moussa Dembele around 2009/2010. Scholes was declining and still Fergie wasn't interested in signing midfielders, it was a frustrating blind spot for him. Feck me though I would love to have that Carrick/Anderson midfield right now, we didn't know how good we had it.
Mourinho was another that just made sense and no one pulled the trigger.
Definitely one of those players who should have gotten a big move at some point but it just never happened for him for some reason.
I thought Rooney was guaranteed success.
Also thought lvG’s (de Maria), Jose’s (Pogba) annd Alexis SancheZ and Sancho. Maybe it’s the managers who just couldn’t get the best out of them.or they were just greedy cnuts here for the money.
Also thought lvG’s (de Maria), Jose’s (Pogba) annd Alexis SancheZ and Sancho. Maybe it’s the managers who just couldn’t get the best out of them.or they were just greedy cnuts here for the money.
I think you'll find Carrick still has some doubters on the Caf, somehow.
Not me though, he was class.
Yes. Severely against the signing at the beginning.
Once he was signed, though I was probably whining about the fee, but I could see how he'd be a successful addition to the squad. He's at a very good age, experienced on high level and League proven, hardworker, English, midfielder, could cover several positions, etc.
You're right that I wasn't exactly sure that he'd be guaranteed success, but the excitement was there.
Alexis Sanchez....
There aren't that many at all even if you go back to the 1960's.
The only certs for me were Denis Law, Martin Buchan, Ray Wilkins, Bryan Robson, Roy Keane, Andy Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Van der Sar.
Everyone else was either:
1. Are they too old? (Davies, Greenhoff, Anderson, Sheringham, Blanc, Falcao, Cavani)
2. From overseas so I never saw them play. (Schmeichel, Kancheskis, etc)
3. From Scotland/Ireland...so can they make the transition? (Forsyth, Macari, Daly, Strachan, McClair)
4. Had injury issues in the past (Ian Storey-Moore, Parker, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Sanchez, Varane)
5. Played for a smaller club so could they make the step up? (Coppell, Hill, Birtles, Ince, Irwin, Thomas, Shaw)
6. Were good rather than great players to begin with (McQueen, Jordan, May, Berg, Fellaini)
7. Would they fit into squad as they had 'reputations' for being difficult. (Cantona, Yorke, Pogba, Lukaku, Ibrahimovic...even Ronaldo in second spell)
So guaranteed successful signings are quite rare in my opinion.
The only certs for me were Denis Law, Martin Buchan, Ray Wilkins, Bryan Robson, Roy Keane, Andy Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Van der Sar.
Everyone else was either:
1. Are they too old? (Davies, Greenhoff, Anderson, Sheringham, Blanc, Falcao, Cavani)
2. From overseas so I never saw them play. (Schmeichel, Kancheskis, etc)
3. From Scotland/Ireland...so can they make the transition? (Forsyth, Macari, Daly, Strachan, McClair)
4. Had injury issues in the past (Ian Storey-Moore, Parker, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Sanchez, Varane)
5. Played for a smaller club so could they make the step up? (Coppell, Hill, Birtles, Ince, Irwin, Thomas, Shaw)
6. Were good rather than great players to begin with (McQueen, Jordan, May, Berg, Fellaini)
7. Would they fit into squad as they had 'reputations' for being difficult. (Cantona, Yorke, Pogba, Lukaku, Ibrahimovic...even Ronaldo in second spell)
So guaranteed successful signings are quite rare in my opinion.
Just a quick observation on your list that little club Gary birtles played for won two European cups and where league champions in the preceding few years before he signed for us
I suppose I was recalling how I thought he was from a relatively small town, then playing in Nottingham and making the jump up to Manchester United (even from a successful team) wasn't a guarantee.
However, you are right to say Forest were a bloody brilliant team and he contributed to their success.
i think with young players 24 or under it can go either way they could be a Sancho or they could be a Ronaldo. The older players seem easier to be nailed on transfers, its just the longetivity. Players like Cas, Varane, Cavani, Zlatan did perform, it was just injuries were the issue. That said Madrid did very well to have a totally new young midfield of Tcheui, Bellingham , Valverde and Camavinga in 2 seasons while gradually phasing out Kroos, Modric and Cas.
Lukaku 
relatively cheap, won't expect to start every week, pl proven, give a 2+1 contract and sell to saudi in 2 years
Can't see how it could go terribly wrong for 30m.
relatively cheap, won't expect to start every week, pl proven, give a 2+1 contract and sell to saudi in 2 yearsCan't see how it could go terribly wrong for 30m.
Nope, knew it would be a disaster, 70 million for a player going on 31 should never of happened and Madrid knew he was losing his legs. Knew he was was going to be a flop. It was a panic signing. I didn't want him. For that money we should of signing someone like Rice or someone at max 25/26 that we would at least get five or six seasons out of. There's a reason why Madrid let him go and just shows how messed up the club is with regards transfers.
Knew it would be like Varane, Matic and Mata all over again, not good enough for their current club so why are they good enough for United. Should be targeting the top talents across Europe that are currently not at a top club like any other big club do.
Makes Sanchez one so odd as well.... Think it was a bit like Hazard to Real, should have been great business but their head wasn't in it
Pogba, Sanchez, Sancho and Casemiro are all singing that thought were guaranteed successes. Madness how they ended up.
There is no such thing as guaranteed success, until after the player succeeds...
Sancho was the last one. I was expecting him to start slow and possibly have some teething problems but he never really sparked into life at all. Glimpses are clearly not enough
Pogba before him
The thing is they would have been amazing transfers and probably way more open to coaching and knuckling down for any coach if we’d got them at the point they joined Juve and Dortmund. Just pure upside and not the end of the world if they didn’t pan out as they were cheap and very talented. We wait too long for these players until they max their value out and the only way is down in most cases. In hindsight they were both very easy going players. Not the types you try to build a team around. I think Neves will be a great signing for big money for example as he seems to have a bit of drive about him
Pogba before him
The thing is they would have been amazing transfers and probably way more open to coaching and knuckling down for any coach if we’d got them at the point they joined Juve and Dortmund. Just pure upside and not the end of the world if they didn’t pan out as they were cheap and very talented. We wait too long for these players until they max their value out and the only way is down in most cases. In hindsight they were both very easy going players. Not the types you try to build a team around. I think Neves will be a great signing for big money for example as he seems to have a bit of drive about him
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Shaw and Sancho.
We have signed loads of 'guaranteed' successful signings but all of them have flopped. The sheer number of failures cannot just be down to the players. The club has a lot to answer for on that.
I think we give young players too much money early on so have no drive to succeed. Sancho is a prime example. At 21 years old, have won nothing in his career, we decided to make him one of our highest paid players. Why? Look at Rashford now he's got his new mega contract.
I think we give young players too much money early on so have no drive to succeed. Sancho is a prime example. At 21 years old, have won nothing in his career, we decided to make him one of our highest paid players. Why? Look at Rashford now he's got his new mega contract.
I wasn’t on here back then and not even sure if the caf was a thing but I didn’t think he’d be a great signing and was skeptical as like I said in a different thread players that excelled in Serie A never have done in the PL outside of Zola, I knew he wasn’t as good as Keane or Scholes although I’ve been wrong the opposite way with others I was sure on that turned out badly.
The three that I'd say I felt would unquestionably be good signings were Varane, Pogba, Ibrahimovic. And of those, only Ibrahimovic achieved it - for one season.
Pogba was the one I was most excited about as I'd loved watching him coming through the academy as the complete all round CM that I'd been desperate for us to sign for ages. To see one come through the academy was even better! So I was gutted when he left, and delighted when he re-signed. Such a shame it went the way it did.
Pogba was the one I was most excited about as I'd loved watching him coming through the academy as the complete all round CM that I'd been desperate for us to sign for ages. To see one come through the academy was even better! So I was gutted when he left, and delighted when he re-signed. Such a shame it went the way it did.
Our wages are on the higher end compared to other clubs, but imo there's nothing wrong with paying talent. The problem is that we also lack ambition at the same time. The contract doesn't immediately make them lazy, it's after years of failure and the club and fans being satisfied with top 4. Ironically Woodward tried to keep up those standards when he was ruthless with Moyes and LVG.
I honestly thought Sanchez would be an unbelievable player for us. One of the worst signings in the clubs history given the wages involved.
Nah I thought it was a pretty dumb signing especially because the player we were chasing before was FdJ. The age thing was absolutely evident then too. Why were we paying so much money for a 30yo?
I did flip flop after he hit form though and thought the transfer would be worth it if we kept him going for 2-3 seasons but his decline was a bit nuts.
I still wonder if he got a bit more help from the system and we didn't leave him to mop up the midfield by himself if he'd have aged better.
Sanchez playing glory glory man utd (I can't say gee gee em you on the caf apparently) on the piano was basically peak Woody. You'd have to be a real cynical old fart to not get excited by that one.
Think it’s a bit harsh to say Zola was only Serie A to EPL success. Off top of my head the following were all solid signings. Desailly, Ravanelli, Boksic, Di Matteo, Petrescu, Gullit, Vialli, Di Canio, Carbone.
Regarding Veron, I think we signed the wrong player from Lazio. Nedved would’ve been perfect for us, more versatile than Veron and able to cover Scholes, Giggs or Beckham
I genuinely thought he would be a guareent
I genuinely thought he would be a guaranteed success here I went to stoke to see his debut shame it didn’t work for him or us
Good one
After first 3 games Dan James and Antony looked promising, then fell off their respective cliffs.
Veron. Was so hyped for him. Still have my book where I would glue every news from papers about United and there is one big of him in red Vodafone shirt (pic was black and white). I was so sure that we will dominate Europe with him.
It wasn't exactly Kane's fault that Leverkusen did something that really couldnt be done. He has been a huge hit - it's the rest of the team that isnt good enough
Varane. I don't think he was so injury prone before United.