Have to admit it’s getting depressing once again this transfer window. Reminds me of last year. I’m convinced the Glazers are only really interested in top 4.
I hear you, starting to get the sense that the club are more than fine with being the rich man's Arsenal and not actually competing amongst the true elite
We need to face facts guys, we are probably never winning the premier league again under the Glazers.
I'm not really sure how you can blame the Glazers' financial input. According to transfermarkt, we spent on average £154 million in each of the last 6 seasons (total = £925 million) and received an average of £53 million over the past 6 seasons (total = £317 million). Thats an average net spend per season of +£101 million (total = £600 million) on transfers alone. The Glazers have financially backed the club.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/manchester-united/alletransfers/verein/985
You care a lot but sadly our board does not care. All they care about is lining up their wallet. COVID came at the ideal time for them and has become the perfect excuse to not spend any money this summer.We simply cannot sleep this transfer window. It's the biggest, most important window we've had for a while, because of the absolute chaos and impressive signings made by direct competitors who are arguably already ahead of us anyway.
If we fail this window, it will be a lot more expensive than £108m, that's for sure.
So do we want to spend £108m+ to strengthen the squad and hopefully recoup a bit of it with CL money next season as well, merchandising, sponsors, etc?
Or do we want to lose £108m+ by finishing 6th, missing out on CL money yet again, have a weaker hand with sponsors, losing out on merchandise, etc.?
We're either looking at investing £108m+ with the potential to turn it into a profit over time, or we're simply losing £108m+ by not investing properly in the squad.
I know which option I would go for.
You care a lot but sadly our board does not care. All they care about is lining up their wallet. COVID came at the ideal time for them and has become the perfect excuse to not spend any money this summer.
If we fail to get results next season, they will simply give Ole the sack while Woodward dishes out the usual "United looking for a Director of Football" PR stuff. It has become a pattern these last few years.
This - we have spent the second most in the league since SAF left if I remember correctly.
Too bad so much has been shit, but thats down to the managers or our lack of a DOF.
If the spending continues under Ole we are going places.
But this is simply not true, or at least wasn't until this summer. It was sort of true for one summer: 2018. Mourinho "only" got to spend 70m that summer after finishing second. The poor boy.Exactly this.
We are in this cycle of new manager, spend to get top 4, get top 4 sleep, sack manager repeat.
There is a reason we are not improving everytime we get into the top 4, lack of investment.
But this is simply not true, or at least wasn't until this summer. It was sort of true for one summer: 2018. Mourinho "only" got to spend 70m that summer after finishing second. The poor boy.
But we spent big in 2015 after LVG secured CL qualification. We spent big in 2017 when Mourinho secured CL qualification.
We spent a LOT and we wasted most of it. That's the truth. We have the second highest net spend in Europe since Fergie's retirement. Lack of investment isn't United's problem.
But this is simply not true, or at least wasn't until this summer. It was sort of true for one summer: 2018. Mourinho "only" got to spend 70m that summer after finishing second. The poor boy.
But we spent big in 2015 after LVG secured CL qualification. We spent big in 2017 when Mourinho secured CL qualification.
We spent a LOT and we wasted most of it. That's the truth. We have the second highest net spend in Europe since Fergie's retirement. Lack of investment isn't United's problem.
Odds are surely high on Barcelona trying to buy Sancho with a Messi windfall. But in fairness, our squad needs less work than theirs so we could be a more attractive proposition.
Happy not signing Sancho day again everyone.
Compared to our income and what we could be spending they are sucking us dry. They spend the bare minimum they need to compete for top 4 and when that is achieved stop backing the manager to reach the next level. The only reason they have spent what they have over the last few seasons is because they are scared of losing money long term. A team like Manchester Utd should be pushing for the top not satisfied being the new Arsenal.I'm not really sure how you can blame the Glazers' financial input. According to transfermarkt, we spent on average £154 million in each of the last 6 seasons (total = £925 million) and received an average of £53 million over the past 6 seasons (total = £317 million). Thats an average net spend per season of +£101 million (total = £600 million) on transfers alone. The Glazers have financially backed the club.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/manchester-united/alletransfers/verein/985
The more we dilly-dally on this transfer the greater the chance that some other team will grab him from under our noses.
Can we only manage one transfer at a time ?!
Ed/Judge heard of multi-tasking before?!
Compared to our income and what we could be spending they are sucking us dry. They spend the bare minimum they need to compete for top 4 and when that is achieved stop backing the manager to reach the next level. The only reason they have spent what they have over the last few seasons is because they are scared of losing money long term. A team like Manchester Utd should be pushing for the top not satisfied being the new Arsenal.
Upgrading the stadium has absolutely nothing to do with our on-pitch problems of the last seven years and you know it. It's irrelevant to this discussion. Yes, it would be nice if they invested in Old Trafford. No, it doesn't mean that they didn't spend enough in the transfer market.This is a very simplistic way of looking at things. Investment is more than only buying players. We really need to upgrade/invest in the stadium (at the very least fix the broken parts) and we need to invest in a DOF. I'm sure there are plenty of other things as well, that are simply neglected because the owners only care about profits. Profits they take out of the club, or that we have to spend on interest on loans we never needed in the first place. The fact that United actually buys some players as the biggest club in the world* can hardly be called "investment". It should be called "business as usual". When we skip dividends for a year, they erase the huge loans we have, they fix Old Trafford, they hire a DOF, and bring us closer to contention in the league and Europe through their spending, I'll agree they've invested. Until at least some of those things happen, I simply disagree. A business spending money made by the business itself is simply called running i business. If the owners spend their own money, or at the very least stop taking as much of cash out of the business, it is investment.
But most teams at the top spend less than we do, or a comparable amount. The reason we're in the mess we're in is because we spent that money much worse.Compared to our income and what we could be spending they are sucking us dry. They spend the bare minimum they need to compete for top 4 and when that is achieved stop backing the manager to reach the next level. The only reason they have spent what they have over the last few seasons is because they are scared of losing money long term. A team like Manchester Utd should be pushing for the top not satisfied being the new Arsenal.
I’m no Glazer lover but the lack of a DOF is not on them. The very role of a DOF is, in effect, operational efficiency. It should minimise spending (smaller squad churn due to a consistent recruitment plan, smaller manager churn as each manager is picked more carefully and doesn’t start from scratch) whilst maximising performance. It should achieve all this for an extremely small relative cost. Why would the Glazer’s not want this?This is a very simplistic way of looking at things. Investment is more than only buying players. We really need to upgrade/invest in the stadium (at the very least fix the broken parts) and we need to invest in a DOF. I'm sure there are plenty of other things as well, that are simply neglected because the owners only care about profits. Profits they take out of the club, or that we have to spend on interest on loans we never needed in the first place. The fact that United actually buys some players as the biggest club in the world* can hardly be called "investment". It should be called "business as usual". When we skip dividends for a year, they erase the huge loans we have, they fix Old Trafford, they hire a DOF, and bring us closer to contention in the league and Europe through their spending, I'll agree they've invested. Until at least some of those things happen, I simply disagree. A business spending money made by the business itself is simply called running i business. If the owners spend their own money, or at the very least stop taking as much of cash out of the business, it is investment.
I’m no Glazer lover but the lack of a DOF is not on them. The very role of a DOF is, in effect, operational efficiency. It should minimise spending (smaller squad churn due to a consistent recruitment plan, smaller manager churn as each manager is picked more carefully and doesn’t start from scratch) whilst maximising performance. It should achieve all this for an extremely small relative cost. Why would the Glazer’s not want this?
Imo it’s Woodward who doesn’t want a DOF.
Not really, it’s quoting the Express.I know it’s the gossip section, but I’ll take it.
Better than absolute silence.
Correct, but they aren’t involved in day to day running of the club. Nor should they. What you can criticise them for is being content with Woodward’s leadership and that tells you their priorities.If the Glazers really wanted a DOF there is nothing Woodward could do to stop it.
Upgrading the stadium has absolutely nothing to do with our on-pitch problems of the last seven years and you know it. It's irrelevant to this discussion. Yes, it would be nice if they invested in Old Trafford. No, it doesn't mean that they didn't spend enough in the transfer market.
But most teams at the top spend less than we do, or a comparable amount. The reason we're in the mess we're in is because we spent that money much worse.
I agree that it's criminal if we sign no one this window but equally, throwing even more money at our problems is not going to solve them. The Glazers' greatest flaw is that they seem to have no clue how to establish a competent footballing leadership at the club.
Correct, but they aren’t involved in day to day running of the club. Nor should they. What you can criticise them for is being content with Woodward’s leadership and that tells you their priorities.
Over the last 10 years we’ve spent 400m less than City but that doesn’t tell the whole story. In the years when we were hamstrung hugely by the glazer debt they were snapping up kompany, silva, Aguero and Yaya to get to our level whilst we were moaning about no value being in the market. As such the squad that Moyes took over post Ferguson when we were in a position to spend again although on paper had just won the league was full of previously world class players in decline and mediocrity. We then needed rebuild and go out and buy the Yaya’s etc but the market has changed and they now cost absolute top dollar. Of course we’ve spent incredibly poorly too but let’s not pretend the Glazer debt player no part in where we are now.We basically have the same expenditure (as well as net spend) as Manchester City over the past 6 years (Manchester United are only 100 million euros from Barcelona who occupy 1st place), the 4th highest in Europe. Arsenal are 12th, with 2/3s of our expenditure value (and half of our net value).
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/tra...&nat=&pos=&altersklasse=&w_s=&leihe=&intern=0
Yeah, the lack of activity this summer is a problem. Unfortunately, the fact that we wasted a lot of money in earlier seasons means we keep having to spend money.Not throwing money at the problem ain't gonna solve it either.
Odds are surely high on Barcelona trying to buy Sancho with a Messi windfall. But in fairness, our squad needs less work than theirs so we could be a more attractive proposition.
Yeah, the lack of activity this summer is a problem. Unfortunately, the fact that we wasted a lot of money in earlier seasons means we keep having to spend money.
Why would Mane and Salah want to join Barca though? They’re an absolute mess. If Messi does leave on a free there is no way they have the cash either.Doubt he'll go to barca. I think the bigger worry would be a domino effect like barca going for say Mane or Salah and with that money Liverpool going for him.
Why would Mane and Salah want to join Barca though? They’re an absolute mess. If Messi does leave on a free there is no way they have the cash either.
Barcelona are still one of the European supergiants and players often have aspirations to join either Real Madrid or Barcelona.
The only season Nani was played on the right he was our best player, probably the best player in the league, led us to the league title, and was battling it out with Di Maria as the third best winger in the world (behind the two freaks of course).He was alright in a good team, but tbh he never elevated the team to the next level by himself (like for example Rooney/Ronaldo/Tevez/Giggsy). Odd flashes of brilliance for sure, but not consistently. He'd probably barely get into the current side which is quite damning. That red card broke my heart too, but that was horseshit in fairness.
Why would Mane and Salah want to join Barca though? They’re an absolute mess. If Messi does leave on a free there is no way they have the cash either.
Messi, their greatest ever who has been there since he was a boy is leaving because he doesn’t see them competing over the next 2-3 years even with him in the side. I don’t see two 29 year olds in their prime at a club competing at the top looking at that current situation and thinking it’s for them. They’d be pretty mad if they do, but stranger things have happened I guess.Barcelona are still one of the European supergiants and players often have aspirations to join either Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Messi, their greatest ever who has been there since he was a boy is leaving because he doesn’t see them competing over the next 2-3 years even with him in the side. I don’t see two 29 year olds in their prime at a club competing at the top looking at that current situation and thinking it’s for them. They’d be pretty mad if they do, but stranger things have happened I guess.
