Is signing no one better than just signing anyone?

charlenefan

Far less insightful than the other Charley
Joined
Aug 17, 2005
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I don't know about anyone else but as shit as yesterday was and as shit as it could get if we don't sign anyone I'd honestly prefer no one over Rabiot and Arnautovic

So what's the consensus is signing just anyone better than no one?
 
It's a needless statement when talking about personnel who represent a very low threshold for improvement. Upgrading Mctominay doesn't need some in depth back and forth about transfer philosophies. Pick a name out of a hat, 80% chance you've upgraded the midfield.
 
Sign average players and give them huge contracts that no other club would give them. When there contract is up for renewal and having played shit for the last four years lets give them a pay rise and a new long term deal. Rinse and Repeat. The way the club is run is an utter joke.
 
i would yes if: the club told ten Hag was safe regardless of results and that he was free to freeze out all the crap on the roster and work on developing his system all year. spend the season scouting properly and get deals negotiated early for the follow season.
 
I dont mind stop gaps per se, provided that we dont tie ourselves into ridiculous contracts and provided that the signings aren't complete idiots..

Obviously a squad of stop-gaps is a no-no.
 
Yes, would rather play Iqbal, Garnacho etc. We are building from scratch, stop gap signings make no sense.
 
What is most incredible about Manchester United signing Rabiot for 18m€, it’s that aside his poor performances, his contract is expiring next season. Having second highest Serie A wages at 9m€, Juventus would have pay to get rid of him. And they are getting 18m€…

Says it all.
 
We would all prefer the " right players", However, unfortunately we are starting players in midfield and at right back that would have trouble starting at any other Premier club. Any improvement would have positive results that could make us a more attractive option for the right players to sign for us later on.
 
For me, yes signing no one is better than signing shite. Mainly because this club has proven itself to be completely hopeless at moving players on and we end up stuck with shite for years and years.

If we had the transfer nous of Chelsea, it wouldn't be a problem because we could sell shite on for twice the price we paid for it, no problem.

But no, our transfer team sucks ass.
 
ArmchairCritic said:
Yes, would rather play Iqbal, Garnacho etc. We are building from scratch, stop gap signings make no sense.
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Absolutely. We have enough merely 'decent' players as it is, we need to be signing big improvements in order to push on. If we can't do that, then make peace with it and let's see how good a coach EtH really is.

Best case scenario with these types of signings is that we make CL. At that point they are no longer good enough and we will just have more dead weight we can't shift. And we all know how bad we are at that aspect.
 
We should prioritise promoting the youngsters over signing players just to get some one in.
 
If we sign nobody the team won't improve, even marginally. That's totally unacceptable. Yesterday I saw McTominay take six touches outside of the box and nearly break Caicedo's ankle with his seventh touch. If that's what we're going to be starting then we need to buy, now.
 
Honestly I'd prefer us to play Garner, Hannibal, Savage, Iqbal or whoever rather than Rabiot. I'd also prefer us to play more of Garnacho, McNeil, Hugill rather than Arnautotovic.

I have no issue with signing squad players when needed but the reality is we need first team players.

If we sign them both as well as FDJ I can understand it but if these are the last two signings we have seriously messed up this transfer window and I'd be pretty certain next season will be another without CL football.

As good as I think ETH is he can't polish a turd
 
That depends on what the alternatives are. If for example our existing options are at CB where we had Maguire, Varane and the Iceman as our starting options, you would say that you should only add the right player to that because at baseline that’s a decent starting selection.

If you look at our CM, where the starting selection is McFred, then no, it’s not worth waiting for this mythical “right” player because those two actively cost us points every match. CM is the most important area of the team, it affects every part of the team’s functioning and with those two in there the entire team suffers, so in that instance yes, once they are an improvement on them the team will get better, and it’s not hard to improve on them.
 
We should be past the point of stop gaps - legit, what is the fecking point? Put an emphasis on youth and play some of our up and coming talent... if you're not going to do that when it's clear our first 11 is lacking serious quality then why even have a youth setup in the first place?

Ten Hag literally said if he only wants the right player. He's out of his gourd if he thinks the few we've been linked with over the past 24hours are players to take the club forward in any meaningful and progressive way.
 
"Anyone" is not on the table as an option. We're not going to bring in "anyone".

If we can't sign the players ETH wants then I'm completely on board with benching McTominay and giving young players like Garner a chance to get their feet wet -- or shit their pants. Either way, what's imperative is that we bench players who consistently fail to perform. McTominay is at the top of the list and right behind him is Rashford. Fortunately, we can bring on Garner for McTominay and Garnacho for Rashford. What difference either will make remains to be seen, but we can't keep failing with the same players who have underperformed for years. The madness must stop now and I have faith in ETH to end the madness.
 
#07 said:
If we sign nobody the team won't improve, even marginally. That's totally unacceptable. Yesterday I saw McTominay take six touches outside of the box and nearly break Caicedo's ankle with his seventh touch. If that's what we're going to be starting then we need to buy, now.
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Coaching can improve a team. Everyone has just forgotten this. Yes klopp and pep signed a whole new team over 5 years. Doesn't mean coaching can't improve a team
 
I don't think it's about signing quality either, but we also need to be looking at the dressing room, and the personality type of players we're recruiting. By all accounts Arnautotovic and Rabiot sound like utter cretins.
 
Depends on the price of said player. What frightens me is a long-term commitment to the wrong player. Players like Telles who are of a profile that I know we would be happy to move on short term if desired are fine at times. ‘Going big’ on the wrong player terrifies me though, and I’d prefer nobody than a situation where we are stuck with a player who, as long as they are here would realistically have to start, but we would never sign if they were on the market again today. This is the problem with the likes of Maguire and Bruno, whereas if Malacia is shite, we won’t be here in 3 years trying everything to make it work and force him into the team.
 
I don't particularly like Rabiot but I can accept him easier, he's 27, he's a French international, he's played regularly for PSG and Juventus. Not my top target but better than McTominay and has some sort of technical ability.

Arnautovic, I don't get, there are enough forwards in the squad that someone could do a job as well as a 33 year old. When we got Cavani and Ibrahimovic, they were ageing world class. Arnautovic was never world-class, he's just ageing.
 
Crashoutcassius said:
Coaching can improve a team. Everyone has just forgotten this. Yes klopp and pep signed a whole new team over 5 years. Doesn't mean coaching can't improve a team
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Yes but there's a ceiling. If all it took was coaching then Klopp could take over Norwich and be challenging for the league in 5 years

Fact is you need quality players to maximise the strengths of the system
 
At this point I'd rather shit in my eyes than watch another McFred match so no.
 
signing no one is bad, but better than signing bad players. Rabiot and Arnautovic would be horrible signings, if its anything but a loan for a season. Still, there are plenty of decent players out there, that could help
 
AndySmith1990 said:
Yes but there's a ceiling. If all it took was coaching then Klopp could take over Norwich and be challenging for the league in 5 years

Fact is you need quality players to maximise the strengths of the system
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Exactly.

In his first summer Klopp sold:

  • Benteke
  • Ibe
  • Allen
  • Skrtel
  • Ilori
  • Luis Alberto
  • Smith
  • Sakho
  • Balotelli
  • Toure

Not because he's a bad coach but because players have a top level. Expecting Klopp, good coach as he is, to magically make these players suit his system was crazy.

If Klopp had come to Man Utd he'd have been saddled with a bunch of duds and expected to turn the lumps into gold. That's what we're doing with Ten Hag.
 
The Glazers have spent next to nothing since the end of last season and Ten Hag is left picking from the same dross as last year. United needed to completely rebuild the squad from the ground up. Too much personnel have gotten comfortable with mediocrity while taking up exorbitant wages. Some tough changes needed to be made and Ten hag wanted to sign 1) Jurrien Timber; 2) FDJ; 3) Anthony; 4) Darwin Nunez and 5) Denzel Dumfries for his vision of the club’s revolution.

Speaking before the start of the season, Erik ten Hag said "You don't need any player; you need the right player. That's what we're working for." Nobody is going to tell me that ETH wants Rabiot, Arnautovic and all these new players we are being linked with recently. If you can’t see at this stage of the window the club is sporadically panicking to get a couple of new names and pushing this on Ten Hag then I can’t help you.

There was a time when name of this club itself create fear in the mind of opposition players and coach but now this club has turned into complete joke even for small clubs. Maguire Shaw Rashford McTomminay Fred Martial become the standard bearers of the fallen Manchester United empire. :mad:
 
AndySmith1990 said:
Yes but there's a ceiling. If all it took was coaching then Klopp could take over Norwich and be challenging for the league in 5 years

Fact is you need quality players to maximise the strengths of the system
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Agreed. But the ceiling might be beating Brighton at home, hopefully. I think we will improve a lot in the next month. Hopefully at least two new signings help that process
 
We absolutely desperately need a midfielder so if I have to choose to have Rabiot or not, I would definitely choose the former. Sick to death seeing McFred and just like @matherto, I would rather shit in my eyes than have to endure the absolute state of our midfield duo any longer.

As for Arnautovic, feck him. Would rather sign no one than him.
 
At this point we need to sign anyone. Hopefully at least good enough to be a squad player in future. We just don't have enough bodies to survive a season nevermind quality.
 
Cloud7 said:
That depends on what the alternatives are. If for example our existing options are at CB where we had Maguire, Varane and the Iceman as our starting options, you would say that you should only add the right player to that because at baseline that’s a decent starting selection.

If you look at our CM, where the starting selection is McFred, then no, it’s not worth waiting for this mythical “right” player because those two actively cost us points every match. CM is the most important area of the team, it affects every part of the team’s functioning and with those two in there the entire team suffers, so in that instance yes, once they are an improvement on them the team will get better, and it’s not hard to improve on them.
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Yeah but rabiot gives away the ball more than Fred, less defensively sound than Mctom, brings massive drama with him, quit a France side months before they won the World Cup. It’s just craziness over all. We will not be able to sell him.
 
I would always say, if it doesn't improve us then we should pass, and plan ahead - save your money and buy a talent that is going to serve the club for a good 5-6 year, a good investment like Rice/Bellingham next summer. The problem they have got is it's negligent to do nothing at this point, they can't watch that yesterday, and expect this squad to get anywhere near 4th place, and they need Champions League football to attract the best talent. They are caught in a downward spiral.

It's not helped when we have had our 'budget' reserved all summer on a player, who is clinging on for dear life to say at his current club. I want FDJ as much as the next fan, but the penny should have dropped by now, that he ain't coming to Utd, not with us being a shit show anyway. He would be here by now, if he wanted to come.

So, we are left with 3 weeks to make at least 4(we need 6) signings, a rb, 2x midfielders & a forward are a must. The club have wasted their wealth in the Woodward Disneyland era, and are now shopping in the bargains with attitude aisle. They can no longer throw money at the problem, they have to be smart, they have to have a plan - the reality is their actions say they aren't smart and they dont have a plan.

Time for a reset, Glazers need to sell, and remove the debt. Utd have never needed a rich owner, we can generate our own money, but they absolutely need one that won't take money out of the club, and realise long term commercial success will come as a result of success on the pitch, and not in spite of the lack of success. Its running us into the ground.
 
Sign anyone better than ______ is a terrible strategy. This may work at properly run clubs, where they aren't afraid to move players on if they aren't right. But when United sign a player we are stuck with them, we can't sell players to save our lives, and that's if we want to, but getting rid of a player requires replacing them, so we always stick with our shit players to avoid spending money to replace them. So just know, when United signs a player, they're probably around for the next 6 years minimum, so you have to think long and hard when considering signings, because it may be all we have to work with.
 
Signing just anybody is a waste of time. When they inevitably fail, we're stuck with a shit player that we can't sell. We already have a bunch of unsellable players. Why add more to the squad? We need top quality players that are going to be much better than what we already have. I would rather we sign nobody than bring in players that aren't very good. I'd give the youngsters a shot, and come back to the market when there are better targets available.

I definitely don't want a guy in our squad that's been banned for using racist slurs.
 
Rabiot and Arnautovic are pointless signings, at best you might get one decent season out of them. We’ll be shot with or without them and it’s just more deadwood to offload (which club can’t even do anyway).
 
charlenefan said:
I don't know about anyone else but as shit as yesterday was and as shit as it could get if we don't sign anyone I'd honestly prefer no one over Rabiot and Arnautovic

So what's the consensus is signing just anyone better than no one?
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If we sign either of the clown players mentioned by the media today, yes.
 
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