The players targeted will have to fit the team's ethos. There is one, we're not sticking to it at the moment.
Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
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The players targeted will have to fit the team's ethos. There is one, we're not sticking to it at the moment.
They have everything to do with it. If they show their discontent then it will affect the club.
But the main point is that introducing another layer onto something doesn't simplify it adds a level of complexity. Now the Board can blame the manager, the DOF or both and the Manager can blame the DOF and Board and likewise, the DOF can blame either or both of them.
The board can perpetually be incompetent but its the manager and DOF who change.
Such as?
I agree with this, and others that have said similarly. In the heady days of constant title wins there were two things I feared, a manager allowing the team to age, and the development of a Liverpool boot room type thing, where even when things are turning to shit people cried continuity and 'if only we get back to doing what we did we'll be ok again'.
Times change, we need to keep ahead of them.
Nicky Butt has been pretty good in his role at the academy. There were loads of apprehensions when he was appointed.
Not saying I'd have anyone from Co92 at DOF mind.
I mean although I agree it is what we should be building towards so that we aren’t having to rip up and start again every few years I think most of this is just a reaction from the papers with what Jose said about being more of a coach.
As for who it should be this is another question. It should have been Ribalta but now he has gone it has to be someone with contacts within the industry, knows scouts, agents experienced in the market and so on and I’m not sure United really have anyone of that ilk, dream scenario would of course be member or members of the class of 92 but I don’t think any really have it in them.
I do think at one point the plan was LVG became director and Giggs took over as manager/coach but that clearly fell by the way side so my hopes went to Ribalta, but given the fact we are Manchester United i’d imagine it would be quite a sought after position if it were to be made available.
Edit: Dream scenario would actually be King Eric
don’t know if he’d be that great in the role but man it would be awesome.
As for who it should be this is another question. It should have been Ribalta but now he has gone it has to be someone with contacts within the industry, knows scouts, agents experienced in the market and so on and I’m not sure United really have anyone of that ilk, dream scenario would of course be member or members of the class of 92 but I don’t think any really have it in them.
I do think at one point the plan was LVG became director and Giggs took over as manager/coach but that clearly fell by the way side so my hopes went to Ribalta, but given the fact we are Manchester United i’d imagine it would be quite a sought after position if it were to be made available.
Edit: Dream scenario would actually be King Eric
don’t know if he’d be that great in the role but man it would be awesome.Ed Woodward: "We can do things in the transfer market that other clubs can only dream of. Watch this space."
If that isn't an invitation to stick an arrogance tax onto all our transfer dealings, I don't know what is.
City's rise to ascendancy began after they hired those ex Barca execs who laid the foundations for Pep's system so, it would be insanely stupid to hire someone like G. Neville who was fawning like little child on those sky sports interviews with Pep and was genuinely unaware of a lot of the things Pep and Kyle Walker talked about. It has been well known that European football is miles ahead of England in terms of tactics, recruitment etc. so, it would be a sideways step if we just hire an ex United player like a lot of people in this thread are suggesting.
Sorry for it my English friends, but I want a stranger for this position. Someone who has an European experience. It would be great if we could hire a Spanish or a German as they are the two football culture that lead the sport now. We need a vision of football rather than a recruiter. The issue between Mourinho and the board is basically the typical United player. Mourinho tends to thinks about players that can give us an instant impact and the board more about potential stars and marketing ones.
What is terrible about our side, is the technical level of our players. I can count at least 10 first team players that have poor technics (Darmian, Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw, Fellaini, Mc Tominay, Rashford, Martial). The issue is the vision we have of football for our club. Having players that can’t pass a ball is really annoying, especially when you play teams in Europe (Look how we struggled against Sevilla).
It’s impressive how Spanish and German teams play the game and how far we are technically from a mid-table team from Spain (we also struggle two games against Celta or even Ajax). I am not happy seating deep against Leicester with Darmian throwing long balls during the game. It hurts. Yes it’s Mourinho’s side, but also the board’s errors from the past. At Madrid, Mourinho used to play good football, because he had terrific players with high technical abilities. If we had a real director of football, someone who thinks that playing well is a must, I don’t think that he’d give Fellaini an extension, that Jones, Rojo, Darmian or other would still be at the club. Mourinho’s happy with that, but after him what ?
If we recruit Zidane, or Ancelotti or another one, do you think that this manager would like to play with these players ? So what ? Another summer full of clear outs, new signings and then ? Same as Mourinho, new players have to adapt etc.
My point is, SAF was the vision of the club and David Gill his right hand. This can’t be done anymore. We have to find a way to stop splashing the cash for players that we don’t need and start balancing the squad in terms of numbers but also in terms of quality (We have 4 left backs, 5 center backs and only one at right wing).
Andrea Berta from Atletico was the good idea. Hope it would be on the table again. Anyway, we all know that Mourinho will be sacked and won’t be on the bench next one, so at least someone who can keep our philosophy high and build on the top players that we have (De Gea, Pogba, Matic, Sanchez, Lukaku), the rising ones (Bailly, Fred) and the one to replace asap (Valencia, Young, Lingard, Martial etc)
What is terrible about our side, is the technical level of our players. I can count at least 10 first team players that have poor technics (Darmian, Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw, Fellaini, Mc Tominay, Rashford, Martial). The issue is the vision we have of football for our club. Having players that can’t pass a ball is really annoying, especially when you play teams in Europe (Look how we struggled against Sevilla).
It’s impressive how Spanish and German teams play the game and how far we are technically from a mid-table team from Spain (we also struggle two games against Celta or even Ajax). I am not happy seating deep against Leicester with Darmian throwing long balls during the game. It hurts. Yes it’s Mourinho’s side, but also the board’s errors from the past. At Madrid, Mourinho used to play good football, because he had terrific players with high technical abilities. If we had a real director of football, someone who thinks that playing well is a must, I don’t think that he’d give Fellaini an extension, that Jones, Rojo, Darmian or other would still be at the club. Mourinho’s happy with that, but after him what ?
If we recruit Zidane, or Ancelotti or another one, do you think that this manager would like to play with these players ? So what ? Another summer full of clear outs, new signings and then ? Same as Mourinho, new players have to adapt etc.
My point is, SAF was the vision of the club and David Gill his right hand. This can’t be done anymore. We have to find a way to stop splashing the cash for players that we don’t need and start balancing the squad in terms of numbers but also in terms of quality (We have 4 left backs, 5 center backs and only one at right wing).
Andrea Berta from Atletico was the good idea. Hope it would be on the table again. Anyway, we all know that Mourinho will be sacked and won’t be on the bench next one, so at least someone who can keep our philosophy high and build on the top players that we have (De Gea, Pogba, Matic, Sanchez, Lukaku), the rising ones (Bailly, Fred) and the one to replace asap (Valencia, Young, Lingard, Martial etc)
interesting about Gary Neville....
I always thought he would be wedded to fast attacking football - influenced by our 4-4-2/4-3-3 with flying wingers but just listened to the Second Captains special with him (check it out, it's a great listen) and he talked about his admiration for the different styles of United/Chelsea/Arsenal/City/Milan and Barcelona in our periods of dominance
it raises the question - should a DoF be wedded to a style or philosophy?
I don't think so - I think football is always evolving and you need someone who will evolve with it
in terms of recruitment I'd love to see someone like Neville work underneath an experienced DoF like Monchi - Neville is someone who loves the club, who sees things with perspective, is flexible, knowledgeable and is extremely dedicated
I always thought he would be wedded to fast attacking football - influenced by our 4-4-2/4-3-3 with flying wingers but just listened to the Second Captains special with him (check it out, it's a great listen) and he talked about his admiration for the different styles of United/Chelsea/Arsenal/City/Milan and Barcelona in our periods of dominance
it raises the question - should a DoF be wedded to a style or philosophy?
I don't think so - I think football is always evolving and you need someone who will evolve with it
in terms of recruitment I'd love to see someone like Neville work underneath an experienced DoF like Monchi - Neville is someone who loves the club, who sees things with perspective, is flexible, knowledgeable and is extremely dedicated
David Moyes.
Best thing that can happen to the club, as long as the DOF is a football man and not some white collar boardroom candidate. We have seen what has happened since SAF and Gill left, spent a fortune and still ended up with a disjointed team with no style of play or identity, Utd clinging onto history as it's identity.
This had to come, someone to steady this ship and see to it that the goals and the identity of the club is upheld. Lets hope they decide to continue with Utd's traditions, playing a certain way, using youth and purchasing players of a certain age that you are guaranteed 5 or more good years out of the player and if moved on that the players still has a resell value.
Looking at our summer transfer window, Utd have decided to go this way and plan for the future, that is why Jose hasn't been backed by purchasing his quick fixes (30+ club)at inflated prices. As we have seen by the purchase of Sanchez so far, there are no guarantees in football and up until now he has been a very expensive, unnecessary purchase and failure.
It seems the club are looking to the future and not this short term planning from manager to manager, we definitely don't need a repeat of this LvG to Jose reign, with Jose's main ambition to sell or pester away every signing made by his predecessor. I would hate our next manager (as I expect this will definitely be Jose's last season) to come in and want to sell everyone Jose purchased.
This had to come, someone to steady this ship and see to it that the goals and the identity of the club is upheld. Lets hope they decide to continue with Utd's traditions, playing a certain way, using youth and purchasing players of a certain age that you are guaranteed 5 or more good years out of the player and if moved on that the players still has a resell value.
Looking at our summer transfer window, Utd have decided to go this way and plan for the future, that is why Jose hasn't been backed by purchasing his quick fixes (30+ club)at inflated prices. As we have seen by the purchase of Sanchez so far, there are no guarantees in football and up until now he has been a very expensive, unnecessary purchase and failure.
It seems the club are looking to the future and not this short term planning from manager to manager, we definitely don't need a repeat of this LvG to Jose reign, with Jose's main ambition to sell or pester away every signing made by his predecessor. I would hate our next manager (as I expect this will definitely be Jose's last season) to come in and want to sell everyone Jose purchased.
I really cant say anything about Butt, as there is not too much information coming out. He might be the exception, but I cant hear the Nevilles, Scholes talking about these topics anymore
What has Neville showed after leaving United that would qualify for that role? Or do you want him because he played all his life for United?
Roy Keane is the man for the job. Nobody will bully him in negotiations and he talks a lot of common sense. Glazers would never have the balls, it will another phony PR snake-oil salesman.
And what would that be? Why cant someone from the outside not understand that anyway? It's not rocket science and we are not that much different to other big clubs nowadays
Gary Neville will be a terrible idea. Zero understanding of business, a failed manager and zero charisma. If I was player and Neville came to tell " I want to join United", I'll probably tell him to feck off!
He will pick fights with almost everyone in the club.
I don't actually want anyone from the class of 92. I just disagree with writing him off because he's obsessed with a "United way".
Id want us to sign a seasoned DoF.
Would be ace, with all the iPads and stuff
There has been a lot of information coming out about the good work Butt has done.
Not so sure that would be the case, by all accounts he has a great rapport with the Irish lads now he is in a position as assistant manager. He is a volatile character but maybe not being the manager suits him? Anyway I really hope it is someone with a strong connection to the club and not some slick con-artist who helped FC Hipster get sleeve sponsorship etc.
And No Chips policy.Would be ace, with all the iPads and stuff
I believe it once a top talent makes it in the first squad
I believe it once a top talent makes it in the first squad
Then you're staggeringly ignorant of the issues which the academy faced when he first arrived for the job.
This is great news.
Now we can actually head in the right direction rather than manager after manager coming in and sucking our souls dry with their own brand of anti-football.
My guess re Mourinho is he wont budge, will complain a lot, make a few more public complaints and be gone by next summer. Maybe that is the reason the club weren't ready to back him so strongly in the transfer market, they were waiting until the clubs direction and future footballing plans were sorted and to keep an eye on his performances in the coming months.
Now we can actually head in the right direction rather than manager after manager coming in and sucking our souls dry with their own brand of anti-football.
My guess re Mourinho is he wont budge, will complain a lot, make a few more public complaints and be gone by next summer. Maybe that is the reason the club weren't ready to back him so strongly in the transfer market, they were waiting until the clubs direction and future footballing plans were sorted and to keep an eye on his performances in the coming months.
Maybe, cant say I spend too much time on our Academy mainly because it takes enough time to follow the first team
And the DOF will be.....
Jose Mourinho.
Manager: Zinedine Zidane
Jose Mourinho.
Manager: Zinedine Zidane
He may be retiring.
I doubt Michael Zorc will work anywhere else. When this contract is up he'll be 58. He may well call it quits then.
He's been with Dortmund since he was 16 years old. If he wanted another challenge, I get the feeling he'd have seeked it out at this point! He's just Dortmund through and through. Born there, one club man.
What about our former assistant coaches Walter Smith and Brian Kidd are a bit old for such an intense role I guess but I could totally see Queiroz or even Steve McClaren loving all the schmoozing in the boardroom. Steve Round not so much... even if he was a director of football at Villa.
Well that is kinda of the same situation isn't it? the more layers you have the more diluted the tactics end up being no matter who we buy and what policy we have. The manger needs to be backed with what he wants or else sack him and hire someone else.
Hoping the rumors about Edwin Van Der Sar being in the running for DOF here are true.
Think it could be a good choice.
Think it could be a good choice.
That would be a strange hire since he was the marketing director at Ajax.
Monchi seems like a good choice. We also recently let a potential DoF go to Zenit St. Petersburg...
I take it you don't fancy him as DOF, but this part is just not true - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43229602
so. what do you propose on how a dof could make it better? what should he say?
signing a pundit who failed miserably in his first gig as director of football.... sounds legit.
he will instantly command jose to play attacking 442 with wide players. that or the boot.
he will probably choose another British manager that plays 442 according to his grand vision... finding no other than the prodigal prince ryan Giggs.
together they would rebuilt the united way.
he will instantly command jose to play attacking 442 with wide players. that or the boot.
he will probably choose another British manager that plays 442 according to his grand vision... finding no other than the prodigal prince ryan Giggs.
together they would rebuilt the united way.
I guess the DoF role varies between clubs, so it’s hard to say who’d be a suitable option really.
However, I do think we need to invest more in the data / analytics side of our recruitment to help unearth potential gems. So whoever takes this role will hopefully be an advocate of that, working closely with the manager and our scouts to help find players that are the right fit for our team.
However, I do think we need to invest more in the data / analytics side of our recruitment to help unearth potential gems. So whoever takes this role will hopefully be an advocate of that, working closely with the manager and our scouts to help find players that are the right fit for our team.
I'm sure there's a connection here with regards to our new interest in hiring a DOF and Ribalta.
Sooo, any actual suggestions for the role from United?
Would love to see a foreigner get a shot at it.
Would love to see a foreigner get a shot at it.
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