I disagree. I think Woodward thought he could single handedly run the football side of the club. Fred was bought and Mourinho said he didnt sign him. Amad and Pellestri bought because he thought Dortmund would cave in and they were panic buys. Did Ole want them? VDB who bought him? Maguire was deemed too expensive at 60 mill then he bought him for 80 mill. This doesnt sound like thought out decisions with a lot of input to me.
Is it impossible that we could end up waiting another ten or even twenty years to win another Premier League?
- Thread starter fastwalker
- Start date
Quite easily. As a club we seem to stuck between identities. What is the united way?
We’ve tried LVG - possession based football
We’ve tried Jose- Low block football
We’ve tried Ole- counter attacking football
We’re onto Ralf and possibly ETH- pressing football
As a club from the top to the bottom we need to identify what the united way is and bleed this through the club, first team, reserves, academy, youth teams.
I think we’re on the right lines in terms of pressing / front foot football, now it’s about finding the right man to implement that style.
We’ve tried LVG - possession based football
We’ve tried Jose- Low block football
We’ve tried Ole- counter attacking football
We’re onto Ralf and possibly ETH- pressing football
As a club from the top to the bottom we need to identify what the united way is and bleed this through the club, first team, reserves, academy, youth teams.
I think we’re on the right lines in terms of pressing / front foot football, now it’s about finding the right man to implement that style.
Said it when SAF left that we are in danger of becoming Liverpool.
Well here we are
Well here we are
Think we're even worse than Liverpool in that period tbh, they at least held some dignity in Europe and we always had a hard game against them at Anfield, this current lot are ballsless
Think it may happen. We're the Liverpool of the 90s/00s
I think it’s really clutching at straws to think Woodward was all to blame and everyone he has put in place who are now running the club will be great and they have all spent the last 9 years advising him against bad decision after bad decision.
Just logically putting faith in people Woodward mainly hired/promoted after he spent 9 years showing he didn’t know who the right people are when it comes too football, doesn’t really make sense.
Well we will see going forward. Let's hope it improves.
Anyone with a brain knows it's more likely than not we won't win a league title in the next 5-10 years, at least with the current structure and the current culture.
From a career working to help failing business improve and ultimately recover, I know it's not impossible though.
If we exclude being bought by an oil nation, a ruthless, change driven culture based on continuous improvement, coupled with the right appointments, can be a huge catalyst.
Liverpool's appointment of Klopp is a good example of this.
From a career working to help failing business improve and ultimately recover, I know it's not impossible though.
If we exclude being bought by an oil nation, a ruthless, change driven culture based on continuous improvement, coupled with the right appointments, can be a huge catalyst.
Liverpool's appointment of Klopp is a good example of this.
We're not even Liverpool anymore, we're Arsenal. Fighting for top 4 every season only to embarrass ourselves if we ever do get in the Champions League and getting battered fairly often in the Premier League.
I wonder if our recruitment structure is now so very different to comparative teams such as Bayern, Madrid, Barca et al? You'd think we'd be looking at the likes of Chelsea (it can't just be Abramovich sacking a manager and lucking out with the next, can it?) and City to implement a similar sustained structure? I don't count Liverpool because it remains to be seen if Klopp is lightning in a bottle or the result of forward planning.
I think it is not only possible, but probable. I hope I am wrong. We are already going to be 10 years next year and we're getting progressively worse.
The Glazers are a disaster and they don't want anyone who will challenge them. They probably look at the Bucs as an example of their genius, but they took a punt on a guy in his 40's and it paid off because it is a different sport with different requirements. They have tried several times to replicate this on the football side and it is not the answer to competing in the modern game.
The Glazers are a disaster and they don't want anyone who will challenge them. They probably look at the Bucs as an example of their genius, but they took a punt on a guy in his 40's and it paid off because it is a different sport with different requirements. They have tried several times to replicate this on the football side and it is not the answer to competing in the modern game.
Maybe but to be more positive, think how good it'll feel when we finally win our first trophy in 30 years 
We're living it as we speak. We're not sniffing a title until Guardiola and Klopp leave the Premiership. And let's pray that Newcastle doesn't start flexing it's muscles.
I think if we all rid ourselves of the fog of what happens on the pitch, and think about this deeply, we know that the real issues at United won't be resolved by simply bringing in another elite manager. We have done that it hasn't worked. The club needs a boardroom that understands football, and decision makers who actually hold the purse strings who understand our football rather than the American version. Sadly we have needed this since Fergie left and since then we have been on the slow slippery slope downwards, with our vision on the commercial rather than results on the pitch (which ultimately affect the commercial). But we don't have power to change the board/execs, so it is normal to hit out at the one person who can be changed, the manager. That is, however, misguided.
We have seen elite manager after elite manager fail at United. We have seen elite player after elite player go backwards at Old Trafford (look at the state of Rashford right now, and Bruno). The problems are systemic.
We need people below those who hold the purse strings (the Glazers) who have a football vision. Executives that have football experience as the highest level. Even now we have Darren Fletcher as a technical director (for instance). What exactly is that? And what is Fletcher's experience in any kind of football coaching/managerial position. None. Then we had Ole. No experience... but we all got carried away, because, well, it was Ole. We have all, I think, been blinded by nostalgia. We want to return to the days of Fergie and that will just not happen. We have to accept that we are a slightly higher level Everton. Money to spend, but no clue how to spend it wisely because we have no coherent structure. And as a result we are going down fast.
After the Champions League defeat there will be those who will hope we can win all the rest of our games and maybe, just maybe, pip Arsenal to a top four position. That is the desperate grasping at straws that there is right now. I know. I had those thoughts by way of some element of comfort after another dismal display from United. But the grim truth is, we haven't got the players do bounce back from that. We didn't bounce back from losing the Europa League final... and we have too many players and staff now who have no investment in this team. Pogba, gone. Lingard, gone. Cavani, gone. And then there will be huge questions about Ronaldo, who will want Champions League football. On top of that we have a manager who is merely interim. He knows he goes at the end of the season.
My real concern is that without a structure in place, without any clue who is even managing the players, the summer transfer window, which we should have long been preparing for is going to be another scattergun affair, with no rhyme or logic to signings, should we have any. As normal.
Ralf Rangnick admitted after the Atletico match last night when asked what it will now take for United to challenge in the future, and he said they are not thinking about that. That is the problem. There is no shred of evidence that anyone actually is.
Of course we will go down old Distracton Road with Ten Hag this and Poch that, but at the end of the day merely replacing the manager is just papering over the cracks of the systemic issues that there are at our club.
We have seen elite manager after elite manager fail at United. We have seen elite player after elite player go backwards at Old Trafford (look at the state of Rashford right now, and Bruno). The problems are systemic.
We need people below those who hold the purse strings (the Glazers) who have a football vision. Executives that have football experience as the highest level. Even now we have Darren Fletcher as a technical director (for instance). What exactly is that? And what is Fletcher's experience in any kind of football coaching/managerial position. None. Then we had Ole. No experience... but we all got carried away, because, well, it was Ole. We have all, I think, been blinded by nostalgia. We want to return to the days of Fergie and that will just not happen. We have to accept that we are a slightly higher level Everton. Money to spend, but no clue how to spend it wisely because we have no coherent structure. And as a result we are going down fast.
After the Champions League defeat there will be those who will hope we can win all the rest of our games and maybe, just maybe, pip Arsenal to a top four position. That is the desperate grasping at straws that there is right now. I know. I had those thoughts by way of some element of comfort after another dismal display from United. But the grim truth is, we haven't got the players do bounce back from that. We didn't bounce back from losing the Europa League final... and we have too many players and staff now who have no investment in this team. Pogba, gone. Lingard, gone. Cavani, gone. And then there will be huge questions about Ronaldo, who will want Champions League football. On top of that we have a manager who is merely interim. He knows he goes at the end of the season.
My real concern is that without a structure in place, without any clue who is even managing the players, the summer transfer window, which we should have long been preparing for is going to be another scattergun affair, with no rhyme or logic to signings, should we have any. As normal.
Ralf Rangnick admitted after the Atletico match last night when asked what it will now take for United to challenge in the future, and he said they are not thinking about that. That is the problem. There is no shred of evidence that anyone actually is.
Of course we will go down old Distracton Road with Ten Hag this and Poch that, but at the end of the day merely replacing the manager is just papering over the cracks of the systemic issues that there are at our club.
We usually do alright at the Etithad and have won more games than we have lost there since SAF I think. Liverpool got done by rubbish teams like we do.
Highly probable that we go 2 decades without winning a major trophy. Painful.
Having seen us have great success in the 90’s and beyond, I’ve made peace with myself and accepted that we may never win the premier league again in my lifetime. It may sound extreme, but certainly possible considering so many teams around us are much stronger as rivals in every department including financially.
Another 10 years at least.
We'd win the odd league cup here and there, but nothing of substance I don't think till the Glazers leave.
It’ll happen again but not for some time. It all goes in cycles, we just need to make sure we’ve rebuilt by the time city and Liverpool drop off.
Get the manager right, and we're winning the title in 2 years time.
We're still one of the biggest clubs. Get this Rangnick gegenpressing turnaround thing right with manager(s), players.. We might start winning again soon enough
There's a very real chance we never win another meaningful trophy again.
Each time a new manager is brought in he wants to start a rebuilding job his own way, takes too long to deliver, gets sacked and repeat.
Put it this way. Right now, if somebody offered us a title in 2032 I would absolutely bite your hand off!!!!!!!
We’ve spent more than anyone on duff players in the last 3-4 seasons. I doubt we’ll bounce back anytime soon.
All these comparisons with Liverpool. But you have to remember, that even under Rodgers, they had a very close title race with City. When was the last time we did that? The times we've finished 2nd post ferguson, the winners have been a long way ahead, and we've essentially scrapped it out with the others around us to see who's the best of the worst.
Unfortunately we're doing the opposite and actually regressing. Klopp and Pep also got backed heavily and we're allowed to buy players specifically to implement their system. Our next manager would need an overhaul and that type of backing in order to progress.
Unfortunately we're doing the opposite and actually regressing. Klopp and Pep also got backed heavily and we're allowed to buy players specifically to implement their system. Our next manager would need an overhaul and that type of backing in order to progress.