Is this the poorest squad post SAF?

[HotOne]

By far. Ten Hag as well as having no tactics, has literally dismantled an already average squad and made it worse. His signings barring Mazraoui were all woeful. Martinez looked good in his first season, but even he now looks poor. Our attack, is scarily poor after all the money spent.

He's left this squad in a horrendous state. After all previous manager sackings, I felt we still had some decent players that could do a job under a better manager, but this squad couldn't make top 4 with prime Fergie. I struggle to name one player I rate. It's a long road out of this mess.

 

[kerryman]

Cant score goals, huge problem. 21 goals in 18 games is going to leave you in the bottom half of the table. Only four teams have scored fewer goals than us and we're a game short of the half-way point of the season. Goal difference of -3. If we can't fix this problem we'll continue to struggle and drift further down the table. Four of the six teams below us have gained points on us over the previous 5 games. Never imagined it would be this bad.

 

[dubplate warrior]

We could actually get relegated. I can't believe I'm saying that

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

We have had worse squads than this one by a large distance in my opinion. However, this is our worst attacking unit possibly ever. Not a single attacking player you can hang your hat on. I like Amad and he’s been a bright spark, but even he should be a rotation option at a top club currently. The whole Greenwood thing really fecked us up. Not only did we lose our best attacking threat, but we also signed Antony for £80 million as his replacement. That’s a double whammy that has seriously hurt the club.

 

[JediSith]

LVG’s squad in his last season was awful. Showed how good he was that we actually finished level on points with City, won the Fa cup. His only problem was, similar to Amorim, didn’t have the players to create chances.

 

[Laurencio]

It's the worst forward line without doubt, but there are a few good players in this squad - certainly better than lower table. We need goals though, and lots of them.

 

[Denis79]

Cant score goals, huge problem. 21 goals in 18 games is going to leave you in the bottom half of the table. Only four teams have scored fewer goals than us and we're a game short of the half-way point of the season. Goal difference of -3. If we can't fix this problem we'll continue to struggle and drift further down the table. Four of the six teams below us have gained points on us over the previous 5 games. Never imagined it would be this bad.

It's not bad form either, it is what our attack is capable of. We were just as poor offensively last season with pretty much the same players.

 

[Bondi77]

Our team is at a level which is mid to lower table. That's the reality of it.

From what I saw today it is more like lower to bottom 3 and that was before Bruno was marched.

 

[ForeverRed1]

Goals wins games and we've never had a squad so devoid of attacking quality in the PL.

There's at least 15 teams in the PL that have at least one forward that would start for us over what we have.

I agree with this, it’s the worst attack we’ve had for sure.

 

[wolvored]

Over the last 10 years it has got poorer/weaker every season.

 

[Superunknown]

Yes, it's a very poor squad. They are also very expensive and, in my opinion, not a very hardworking or likeable bunch either. It's a very poor squad in multiple aspects. Compare some of the great goal scorers we have had in the past and look at what we have now. It's pathetic.

 

[wolvored]

We have had worse squads than this one by a large distance in my opinion. However, this is our worst attacking unit possibly ever. Not a single attacking player you can hang your hat on. I like Amad and he’s been a bright spark, but even he should be a rotation option at a top club currently. The whole Greenwood thing really fecked us up. Not only did we lose our best attacking threat, but we also signed Antony for £80 million as his replacement. That’s a double whammy that has seriously hurt the club.

This. Well said.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Over the last 10 years it has got poorer/weaker every season.

I've posted this before, but it goes back further than that, in my opinion. Go back to the summer of 2009, when we decided to replace the best player in the world (Ronaldo) and a very good PL proven forward (Tevez), with Valencia, Owen and Obertan. Squad has been in decline since that transfer window (admittedly from a very high level).

 

[Member 128389]

Poorest quality but most expensive and highest earning in history of club

 

[Lay]

Easily. It's a horrendous bunch of players who all have no chemistry with each other. They lack athleticism, they lack physicality, they lack technical ability. There's a lot of plodders in the side.

 

[Irwin99]

I disagree that they lack technical ability, but it is probably the weakest team (physically and mentally) that we’ve had and the worst forward line. The way the squad has been assembled is strange and is kind of all over the place.

We’ve invested in a lot of young players over the past few seasons but part of the problem is we’re so reliant on them (Mainoo, Garnacho, Hojlund). Years ago when we had great young players coming through there were always veterans around who were great players and had been at the club for years. By contrast, The quality of those that are meant to be setting the standards now is just not great. Even winners like Eriksen and Casemiro probably don’t feel they’re that important to the squad and have got one eye on their exit from the club.

 

[RDCR07]

Easily. It's a horrendous bunch of players who all have no chemistry with each other. They lack athleticism, they lack physicality, they lack technical ability. There's a lot of plodders in the side.

Main thing is they lack the mentality. Remember when Eriksen said after the Twente game that their team wanted it more and we were playing at home ffs.

 

[AshRK]

In the last 3 odd seasons we have bought individual players and not players who can play for the team. Like tell me what was the point of buying Mount, or Onana when we didn't even play from the back. Or why buy Hojlund when we needed an experienced number 9, or why buy antony? Why buy Casemiro when you were chasing a ball playing mf in FDJ.

Truth is we have bunch of assembled individual players and not a team.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

Yes. Thanks to ETH. The squad he has left us with after 600m spent is the worst squad we have ever had post SAF

 

[amolbhatia50k]

It’s not just about quality but also the mindset. Quality wise I’d say last year’s squad was possible the worst but mentally we are as weak now as we’ve ever been. Even a new manager coming has little impact on them.

 

[Exiled_Red]

It’s past being the worst post SAF team. It’s the worst team since we were relegated. Not only do we not have enough technical ability, but we are physically miles behind the rest of the league. Look at the stats game over game. We cover less ground and win less duels. We managed to assemble a team that’s light on technical skill, light on physical ability, weak on mentality, and not overly young. We are a poorly assembled, overpaid group of players.

 

[Hester_manc]

In 2020-21 we finished 2nd in the league, and our squad then vs now looked like this:
Keepers

2020-21	2024-25
De Gea	Onana
Henderson	Bayindir
Romero	Heaton

Center backs:

2020-21	2024-25
Maguire	Maguire
Lindelöf	Lindelöf
Tuanzebe	Yoro
Jones	De Ligt
Bailly	Martinez
	Evans

Left and right back:

2020-21	2024-25
Shaw	Shaw
Telles	Malacia
Williams	Dalot
Bissaka	Mazraoui
Dalot
Fosu-Mensah

Central midfielders:

2020-21	2024-25
Matic	Ugarte
Pogba	Casemiro
McTominay	Mainoo
Fred	Eriksen
Van de Beek	Collyer

Attacking midfielders:

2020-21	2024-25
Bruno	Bruno
Lingard	Mount
Mata
Hannibal

Left and right wingers:

2020-21	2024-25
Rashford	Rashford
Greenwood	Garnacho
Diallo	Diallo
Pellistri	Antony
James
Shoretire
Elanga

Forwards:

2020-21	2024-25
Martial	Højlund
Carvani	Zirkzee
Ighalo

 

[Eyepopper]

It's dire, we've kids playing up front... Højlund, Zirkzee, Amad, Garnacho, Anthony.. none of them should be anywhere near first choice forwards for Utd right now.

Who have they ahead of them showing the standards that need to be met to play for Man Utd? Rashford?

I get the idea of investing in youth, but there needs to be senior players there already to guide them and set standards

 

[Mr Smith]

The one we started 2019/20 with under Ole was far worse. So was 15/16 under Van Gaal. We have plenty of good players, just a number are playing poorly. People are overreacting, we'll stabilise.

 

[SolskjaerHasDoneIt]

Definitely and we're gonna be dragged into a relegation battle if this keeps up. We'll most likely draw/lose the next 3 games so buckle up for a turbulent 2nd half of the season.

 

[tentan]

Yes. Average players.

 

[CM]

It's certainly playing that way. The system we're playing exacerbates the issues in some ways. You need high quality wing backs and inside forwards for Amorim's system to work and all of them bar Amad are a long way off. We also don't have the strikers to bail us out when the rest of the team isn't performing.

It's one of the worst assembled group of players we've had at any point in the last decade and the worst part is a stupid amount of money has been thrown at a lot of them. It's hard to see a quick fix and we can't afford to sign any more duds, which feels unlikely given our track record on recruitment.

 

[RedDevil [NC]]

Worst group of players and then throw in the wages/transfer fees and may be the worst in PL history.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

The attack is the incredible drop off imo.

The attack we had in that season we crossed 75 goals (Martial - Rashford - Greenwood with Sancho coming in the summer) compared to now is just sad.

 

[Offside]

It is but it’s also very young. We’ve never had such a genuine midtable level of quality but some of the players aren’t close to being first team players, never mind players to rely on. Could take 2-3 years for them to click but it needs to align with 2-3 years of good recruitment which we are incapable of. Hence why we have such a multi-layered poor squad.

If we somehow manage to set a standard on players we recruit it could change very very quickly and all of a sudden those young players could thrive. We need to wait if necessary rather than another load of panic Jan signings. We’re so poor it would be quite easy to improve us quickly, same way when we signed Bruno and Ighalo, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the end goal to be a top team.

The thing that’s shocking is the intelligence and level of decision making. If you look at Liverpool in 2010/11 as a good example of where we are now, there was more a mix of lack of investment with washed up legends. We’ve created a squad that are all collectively stupid, genuinely never seen anything like it.

 

[Giggsy13]

Not the poorest but by and far the dumbest United squad I’ve seen in my life. The average IQ must be in the 50s or 60s. The decision making everywhere is just so piss poor and we have a goofy fecking prick of a captain, so that doesn’t help. They also give off the stench of being lazy and entitled twats who don’t give a feck about the club. It’s very dire, the worst I’ve ever seen and I wouldn’t blame Amorim if he stepped down tomorrow.

 

[always_hoping]

For sure the most braindead and mentally weak

Hard to disagree with that.

 

[rollingstoned1]

Indeed. It is Feyenoord/Alkmaar level right now because of ETH which is why even after the shit show post-Saf we find ourselves facing a potential relegation battle for the first time.

 

[Shaw's Shank Redemption]

Definitely.

As my brother said it, we have been put back up to 10 years because of Ten Hag.

Sure there was personality issues - but consider being able to work with Pogba, Fred, Sancho, Mctominnay, Rashford, Martial, Bruno, James, Amad, De Gea.

Daniel James would have been such a cool RWB Sancho for all his super high wages would have been better here as a LAM, Martial is a better striker than all we have, Mctominnay, Fred, Pogba would be much better partners to Ugarte, De Gea was less clumsy than Onana.. etc.

The wages were very bad but the players were slight better quality to what we have now.​

 

[Cheimoon]

In 2020-21 we finished 2nd in the league, and our squad then vs now looked like this:
Keepers

2020-21	2024-25
De Gea	Onana
Henderson	Bayindir
Romero	Heaton

Center backs:

2020-21	2024-25
Maguire	Maguire
Lindelöf	Lindelöf
Tuanzebe	Yoro
Jones	De Ligt
Bailly	Martinez
	Evans

Left and right back:

2020-21	2024-25
Shaw	Shaw
Telles	Malacia
Williams	Dalot
Bissaka	Mazraoui
Dalot
Fosu-Mensah

Central midfielders:

2020-21	2024-25
Matic	Ugarte
Pogba	Casemiro
McTominay	Mainoo
Fred	Eriksen
Van de Beek	Collyer

Attacking midfielders:

2020-21	2024-25
Bruno	Bruno
Lingard	Mount
Mata
Hannibal

Left and right wingers:

2020-21	2024-25
Rashford	Rashford
Greenwood	Garnacho
Diallo	Diallo
Pellistri	Antony
James
Shoretire
Elanga

Forwards:

2020-21	2024-25
Martial	Højlund
Carvani	Zirkzee
Ighalo

I don't know what your conclusion of that comparison is, but it seems to me the squad is considerably stronger now - which fits with my idea that this really isn't a weak squad per se. But it's got a big mental block currently, and it has received next to no instruction in the system it currently has to play.* But player for player, I think this squad is pretty strong and could compete for top 6 (or so?) - even if it would be a little short of goals and of course suffers from the (lack of) availability of Shaw, Mount, and Malacia.

* Which isn't Amorim's fault, I hasten to add. He was hired to do what he does (his 3-4-3) in a time of the season when there is very limited opportunity to train the squad in it.

 

[Ekeke]

No but its the worst to watch

The combination of ETH and Amorim's tactics of setting up with inverted players down the sides, so when we work the ball down the wing then they want to turn inside and start going backwards and then we pass backwards and all across the backline to start going down the other wing, then when we get forward down that wing, the player tries to come inside and then passes backwards and we go all the way back across our backline again

 

[RedIan]

On paper the squad is very strong. Their Form is shocking.

There are a couple of obvious glaring issues in the team, issues that were present all last season and still present now. This is on INEOS for failing to correct these big problems..

No left footed fit full backs. Sha and Malacia injured for 12 months, hello wake up. Sort it out

Lack of goals due to poor quality of strikers. Buy a class striker, infact buy 2.

A third issue is our keeper is crap

 

[gulli_G]

In 2020-21 we finished 2nd in the league, and our squad then vs now looked like this:
Keepers

2020-21	2024-25
De Gea	Onana
Henderson	Bayindir
Romero	Heaton

Center backs:

2020-21	2024-25
Maguire	Maguire
Lindelöf	Lindelöf
Tuanzebe	Yoro
Jones	De Ligt
Bailly	Martinez
	Evans

Left and right back:

2020-21	2024-25
Shaw	Shaw
Telles	Malacia
Williams	Dalot
Bissaka	Mazraoui
Dalot
Fosu-Mensah

Central midfielders:

2020-21	2024-25
Matic	Ugarte
Pogba	Casemiro
McTominay	Mainoo
Fred	Eriksen
Van de Beek	Collyer

Attacking midfielders:

2020-21	2024-25
Bruno	Bruno
Lingard	Mount
Mata
Hannibal

Left and right wingers:

2020-21	2024-25
Rashford	Rashford
Greenwood	Garnacho
Diallo	Diallo
Pellistri	Antony
James
Shoretire
Elanga

Forwards:

2020-21	2024-25
Martial	Højlund
Carvani	Zirkzee
Ighalo

How can ETH spend 600m and downgrade us further, criminal, needs to be arrested for crimes against football!

 

[Judas]

I can't get over how awful our attack is. The downgrade, for numerous well documented reasons, from Ole's time is staggering. Albeit not a perfect bunch, just miles and miles ahead of the absolute nothingness we see before us now.

 

[Mike Smalling]

On paper the squad is very strong. Their Form is shocking.

There are a couple of obvious glaring issues in the team, issues that were present all last season and still present now. This is on INEOS for failing to correct these big problems..

No left footed fit full backs. Sha and Malacia injured for 12 months, hello wake up. Sort it out

Lack of goals due to poor quality of strikers. Buy a class striker, infact buy 2.

A third issue is our keeper is crap

How can you both say that the squad is very strong, but then also correctly identify that we have no proper goal scorers, no left footed fullback, and a crap goalkeeper?

The squad is crap. Absolutely crap. Unless the club realizes this, we are just going to go in circles with different managers, trying different systems and getting similar results.