I understand that but it’s like I said, is he rubbish? How can we say that when all our defenders as classified rubbish all 5 of them 6 if we include Blind. However we still managed to have the best defence 3 years running. My point is yes we have players that don’t cut the mustard but so do Liverpool and City. Liverpool played good football and got to a final with basically Ben Amos in goals. Man City won the league with Otamendi playing Center back.. that guy who was laughed at 2 seasons prior with, “United never really wanted him” quotes by us smug fans because he was garbage. Obviously now he’s one of the best CB in the league (I joke). I also agree we can replace those who don’t cut the mustard whether Mourinho brought a player in that position previously or whether the current player is not Mourinho’s man. But unfortunately like a girl with a high body count don’t be surprised if you have a few doubters.
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I understand that but it’s like I said, is he rubbish? How can we say that when all our defenders as classified rubbish all 5 of them 6 if we include Blind. However we still managed to have the best defence 3 years running. My point is yes we have players that don’t cut the mustard but so do Liverpool and City. Liverpool played good football and got to a final with basically Ben Amos in goals. Man City won the league with Otamendi playing Center back.. that guy who was laughed at 2 seasons prior with, “United never really wanted him” quotes by us smug fans because he was garbage. Obviously now he’s one of the best CB in the league (I joke). I also agree we can replace those who don’t cut the mustard whether Mourinho brought a player in that position previously or whether the current player is not Mourinho’s man. But unfortunately like a girl with a high body count don’t be surprised if you have a few doubters.
David De Gea.
So is he dead now? Last time I checked we still have him.
Just read it, ffs. Someone tell Ed he should get on with his job and stop talking to the press.
He is off form since coming from World Cup and it's showing, 4 goals in 2 games.
Honestly the only difference Brighton game had from the dross of the previous 5 years is that Dave had a crap game thus didn't cover for the shite show happening in front of him.
The only season I thought our defense looked decent was Mourinho first one. Moyes, LVG 2 seasons and last one were all Dave saving our arses with loads of saves almost every game.
It's wrong to say we hace one of the best defenses in the league. The right statement is we have the best GK in the league.
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What's your point? This has been a poor season for our defenders because of 1 game?
Quick question for those who want to blame Ed Woodward for everything, if he hadn't given Jose a new contract in January and he'd left at the end of the season would you hate him more than you do now ?
Bless you if you buy into Ed's bullshit
That was just another of bazillion examples under Woodward where he has briefed the journos to save face when we couldn't get the signings done. Bale, Kroos, Thiago, Fabregas, the list is far too long.
Woodward handed Mourinho a new contract in January, you can be pretty sure he would've discussed his vision for the team for the additional year and what sort of recruitment that has to be done. Woodward had transfer targets with him few months into the contract renewal, if he was unhappy with the names suggested why not tell Mourinho straight up the club don't believe in his transfer strategy of buying 29 yo and instead buy players in the mould of Varane who are young and have room for improvement? Why wait till the end of window? Why leak it to media in the first place? Why not keep these things in-house? On the eve of opening day he's thrown manager under the bus and absolved himself of the poor transfer window and fans are gullible enough to buy into it.
This business has been handled very badly, you never ever wash your dirty laundry in public. To satisfy his ego, he did his bit. Showing who's the boss which is funny because no on ever questioned who is more important to the club but in doing that he has undermined the manager. He's left him with a squad which he doesn't trust and leaves us in a situation where this season is more or less a write-off. It should be bleeding obvious to anyone this is not how a club should be run. We badly need a structure in place between him and the manager because if he continues to poke his nose into footballing side we're doomed under any manager.
Again going back to the bolded part. It's difficult to sign a CB in mid 20s who is young and established with rooms of improvement. The cost would be too high, we already have two young CBs on our books in Bailly and Lindelof. He wanted an experienced head alongside them so he could help them establish themselves or allow him to play 3 ATB. I ask you to name me one top club who has two young and established CBs playing at the heart of their defence?
Coming to Perisic and Willian, in modern times where width is provided by attacking fullbacks and wingers are prone to come in and participate in the play. These two are a rare breed who can hug the touchline and offer width. I don't see why their age would be a problem when 2/3rd of Mourinho's signings have been below the age of 25. You need a mix of old and youth to compete.
People who continue to parrot 'but he signed 2 CBs in 2 windows'! Well transfers are always going to be hit and miss, question is do you trust the managers judgment to make more correct calls in the market than wrong? Answer is abundantly clear to everyone on the back of this window, Woodward doesn't so again why is he dithering again to make the hard call? If you don't buy into his vision of the team, if you are not on the same page save everyone the trouble and sack him. Why make the fans suffer through the season?
Bless you if you buy into Ed's bullshit
That was just another of bazillion examples under Woodward where he has briefed the journos to save face when we couldn't get the signings done. Bale, Kroos, Thiago, Fabregas, the list is far too long.
Woodward handed Mourinho a new contract in January, you can be pretty sure he would've discussed his vision for the team for the additional year and what sort of recruitment that has to be done. Woodward had transfer targets with him few months into the contract renewal, if he was unhappy with the names suggested why not tell Mourinho straight up the club don't believe in his transfer strategy of buying 29 yo and instead buy players in the mould of Varane who are young and have room for improvement? Why wait till the end of window? Why leak it to media in the first place? Why not keep these things in-house? On the eve of opening day he's thrown manager under the bus and absolved himself of the poor transfer window and fans are gullible enough to buy into it.
This business has been handled very badly, you never ever wash your dirty laundry in public. To satisfy his ego, he did his bit. Showing who's the boss which is funny because no on ever questioned who is more important to the club but in doing that he has undermined the manager. He's left him with a squad which he doesn't trust and leaves us in a situation where this season is more or less a write-off. It should be bleeding obvious to anyone this is not how a club should be run. We badly need a structure in place between him and the manager because if he continues to poke his nose into footballing side we're doomed under any manager.
Again going back to the bolded part. It's difficult to sign a CB in mid 20s who is young and established with rooms of improvement. The cost would be too high, we already have two young CBs on our books in Bailly and Lindelof. He wanted an experienced head alongside them so he could help them establish themselves or allow him to play 3 ATB. I ask you to name me one top club who has two young and established CBs playing at the heart of their defence?
Coming to Perisic and Willian, in modern times where width is provided by attacking fullbacks and wingers are prone to come in and participate in the play. These two are a rare breed who can hug the touchline and offer width. I don't see why their age would be a problem when 2/3rd of Mourinho's signings have been below the age of 25. You need a mix of old and youth to compete.
People who continue to parrot 'but he signed 2 CBs in 2 windows'! Well transfers are always going to be hit and miss, question is do you trust the managers judgment to make more correct calls in the market than wrong? Answer is abundantly clear to everyone on the back of this window, Woodward doesn't so again why is he dithering again to make the hard call? If you don't buy into his vision of the team, if you are not on the same page save everyone the trouble and sack him. Why make the fans suffer through the season?
Great post
Bless you if you buy into Ed's bullshit
That was just another of bazillion examples under Woodward where he has briefed the journos to save face when we couldn't get the signings done. Bale, Kroos, Thiago, Fabregas, the list is far too long.
Woodward handed Mourinho a new contract in January, you can be pretty sure he would've discussed his vision for the team for the additional year and what sort of recruitment that has to be done. Woodward had transfer targets with him few months into the contract renewal, if he was unhappy with the names suggested why not tell Mourinho straight up the club don't believe in his transfer strategy of buying 29 yo and instead buy players in the mould of Varane who are young and have room for improvement? Why wait till the end of window? Why leak it to media in the first place? Why not keep these things in-house? On the eve of opening day he's thrown manager under the bus and absolved himself of the poor transfer window and fans are gullible enough to buy into it.
This business has been handled very badly, you never ever wash your dirty laundry in public. To satisfy his ego, he did his bit. Showing who's the boss which is funny because no on ever questioned who is more important to the club but in doing that he has undermined the manager. He's left him with a squad which he doesn't trust and leaves us in a situation where this season is more or less a write-off. It should be bleeding obvious to anyone this is not how a club should be run. We badly need a structure in place between him and the manager because if he continues to poke his nose into footballing side we're doomed under any manager.
Again going back to the bolded part. It's difficult to sign a CB in mid 20s who is young and established with rooms of improvement. The cost would be too high, we already have two young CBs on our books in Bailly and Lindelof. He wanted an experienced head alongside them so he could help them establish themselves or allow him to play 3 ATB. I ask you to name me one top club who has two young and established CBs playing at the heart of their defence?
Coming to Perisic and Willian, in modern times where width is provided by attacking fullbacks and wingers are prone to come in and participate in the play. These two are a rare breed who can hug the touchline and offer width. I don't see why their age would be a problem when 2/3rd of Mourinho's signings have been below the age of 25. You need a mix of old and youth to compete.
People who continue to parrot 'but he signed 2 CBs in 2 windows'! Well transfers are always going to be hit and miss, question is do you trust the managers judgment to make more correct calls in the market than wrong? Answer is abundantly clear to everyone on the back of this window, Woodward doesn't so again why is he dithering again to make the hard call? If you don't buy into his vision of the team, if you are not on the same page save everyone the trouble and sack him. Why make the fans suffer through the season?
You make some interesting points Jose, by the way are you still enjoying your stay at the Lowry Hotel ?
Bless you if you buy into Ed's bullshit
Woodward handed Mourinho a new contract in January, you can be pretty sure he would've discussed his vision for the team for the additional year and what sort of recruitment that has to be done. Woodward had transfer targets with him few months into the contract renewal, if he was unhappy with the names suggested why not tell Mourinho straight up the club don't believe in his transfer strategy of buying 29 yo and instead buy players in the mould of Varane who are young and have room for improvement? Why wait till the end of window? Why leak it to media in the first place? Why not keep these things in-house? On the eve of opening day he's thrown manager under the bus and absolved himself of the poor transfer window and fans are gullible enough to buy into it.
Again going back to the bolded part. It's difficult to sign a CB in mid 20s who is young and established with rooms of improvement. The cost would be too high, we already have two young CBs on our books in Bailly and Lindelof. He wanted an experienced head alongside them so he could help them establish themselves or allow him to play 3 ATB. I ask you to name me one top club who has two young and established CBs playing at the heart of their defence?
Coming to Perisic and Willian, in modern times where width is provided by attacking fullbacks and wingers are prone to come in and participate in the play. These two are a rare breed who can hug the touchline and offer width. I don't see why their age would be a problem when 2/3rd of Mourinho's signings have been below the age of 25. You need a mix of old and youth to compete.
Jesus, how can this be so difficult to understand? He's saying I can't spend 60M pounds or more on a 29yr olds that has maybe 3 years left on his leg. Find me a younger person or a prodigy, and I will break the bank for him. Maguire is not one of those players, and at 75M how much better is Maguire compared to the CBs we have currently?
If you are United fan and you don't agree with those sentiments, something is seriously wrong with you.
You spelt Neymar and Mbappe wrong there.
It's not his job to find young prodigy's. Ed Woodward is in charge of transfers, he is the one in regular contact with clubs and agents, he is the one who should be responsible for that.
A players value is determined by their club. I'm sure Jose would want Varane too, but he's a mainstay at a big club, which is always difficult, if not impossible.
Maguire isnt even old so this argument is nonsense. In regards to how much better he is, I'd say a lot. All of our defend2rs have drawbacks, Maguire can do it all. He wouldnt have made the mistakes Bailly and Lindslof did against Brighton and he isn't scary on the ball like Smalling.
This isnt even taking into account the fact that; everyone and their mum knows this is how Jose operates. Ed knew it and still hired him.
Bless you if you buy into Ed's bullshit
That was just another of bazillion examples under Woodward where he has briefed the journos to save face when we couldn't get the signings done. Bale, Kroos, Thiago, Fabregas, the list is far too long.
Woodward handed Mourinho a new contract in January, you can be pretty sure he would've discussed his vision for the team for the additional year and what sort of recruitment that has to be done. Woodward had transfer targets with him few months into the contract renewal, if he was unhappy with the names suggested why not tell Mourinho straight up the club don't believe in his transfer strategy of buying 29 yo and instead buy players in the mould of Varane who are young and have room for improvement? Why wait till the end of window? Why leak it to media in the first place? Why not keep these things in-house? On the eve of opening day he's thrown manager under the bus and absolved himself of the poor transfer window and fans are gullible enough to buy into it.
This business has been handled very badly, you never ever wash your dirty laundry in public. To satisfy his ego, he did his bit. Showing who's the boss which is funny because no on ever questioned who is more important to the club but in doing that he has undermined the manager. He's left him with a squad which he doesn't trust and leaves us in a situation where this season is more or less a write-off. It should be bleeding obvious to anyone this is not how a club should be run. We badly need a structure in place between him and the manager because if he continues to poke his nose into footballing side we're doomed under any manager.
Again going back to the bolded part. It's difficult to sign a CB in mid 20s who is young and established with rooms of improvement. The cost would be too high, we already have two young CBs on our books in Bailly and Lindelof. He wanted an experienced head alongside them so he could help them establish themselves or allow him to play 3 ATB. I ask you to name me one top club who has two young and established CBs playing at the heart of their defence?
Coming to Perisic and Willian, in modern times where width is provided by attacking fullbacks and wingers are prone to come in and participate in the play. These two are a rare breed who can hug the touchline and offer width. I don't see why their age would be a problem when 2/3rd of Mourinho's signings have been below the age of 25. You need a mix of old and youth to compete.
People who continue to parrot 'but he signed 2 CBs in 2 windows'! Well transfers are always going to be hit and miss, question is do you trust the managers judgment to make more correct calls in the market than wrong? Answer is abundantly clear to everyone on the back of this window, Woodward doesn't so again why is he dithering again to make the hard call? If you don't buy into his vision of the team, if you are not on the same page save everyone the trouble and sack him. Why make the fans suffer through the season?
Good post. I do not think match going fans will buy Woodward’s bullshit anyway.
Manager identifies targets, chairman buy targets if possible. Chairman and manager does not have a blank check so, they cannot buy all players based on the asking price of the club. Do you think SAF got all the targets he wanted? Do you want a list of all the transfers Kenyon and Gill messed up? As a manager, you cannot mandate your chairman to buy a player at ALL COST unless the said player is a prodigy.
If you support the idea of Toby and Maguire transfer to Manchester United at all cost, you are nothing but a muppet. If you think Toby and/or Maguire would have save our face at Brighton, you know nothing about football.
I don't even know where to begin with this. The manager gives a list of targets, or in some cases, attributes, which then the individual/s in charge of transfers pursue. Considering Ed has full control over all things transfers, it's only fair he is held accountable for the transfer business. Jose gave a list of multiple options to Ed and he failed to sign any of them, that's on him. It's up to him to negotiate, not Jose's. Jose doesn't give a shit how much the club spends.
I don't give a feck what SAF did and didn't do, SAF is gone, I've moved on, unlike some on this forum. That point makes no fecking sense anyway, considering Jose gave a list of multiple options, something you're failing to grasp. Ed failed to sign any of them.
Maguire isn't old, Toby has a few years in him yet and both are clear upgrades on what we have, considering neither have any glaring weaknesses unlike our current lot. Bailly isn't the best with his head and is far too injury prone, Lindelof is seemingly failing to adapt to the physicality of the league, Smalling is a fecking calamity on the ball, Jones can't stay fit and regularly puts the team in dangerous positions due to his rashness and Rojo is finished. Alderweireld and Maguire don't have any of those drawbacks, both are comfortable on the ball, both are good in the air and neither of them would have made the calamitous mistakes Bailly and Lindelof made. It's fecking common sense, the better defenders, who make less mistakes, are less likely to feck up the way Bailly and Lindelof did. So maybe it's you, who "knows nothing about football".
A player doesn't have the be a huge upgrade to warrant spending money. Managers work better with certain individuals than others. Jose has turned some good defenders into great ones in the past, Ivanovic, Terry etc. to name a few. There's far more to a player's potential usefulness than their ability alone. (Which still makes no sense, as I'd take Toby over any of our defenders any day of the week). What's to say Toby or Maguire wouldn't have been the same? If Ed doesn't trust him to do that with those players, that's a different argument entirely. Which then raises the question, why is he still the manager?
Bless you if you buy into Ed's bullshit
That was just another of bazillion examples under Woodward where he has briefed the journos to save face when we couldn't get the signings done. Bale, Kroos, Thiago, Fabregas, the list is far too long.
Woodward handed Mourinho a new contract in January, you can be pretty sure he would've discussed his vision for the team for the additional year and what sort of recruitment that has to be done. Woodward had transfer targets with him few months into the contract renewal, if he was unhappy with the names suggested why not tell Mourinho straight up the club don't believe in his transfer strategy of buying 29 yo and instead buy players in the mould of Varane who are young and have room for improvement? Why wait till the end of window? Why leak it to media in the first place? Why not keep these things in-house? On the eve of opening day he's thrown manager under the bus and absolved himself of the poor transfer window and fans are gullible enough to buy into it.
This business has been handled very badly, you never ever wash your dirty laundry in public. To satisfy his ego, he did his bit. Showing who's the boss which is funny because no on ever questioned who is more important to the club but in doing that he has undermined the manager. He's left him with a squad which he doesn't trust and leaves us in a situation where this season is more or less a write-off. It should be bleeding obvious to anyone this is not how a club should be run. We badly need a structure in place between him and the manager because if he continues to poke his nose into footballing side we're doomed under any manager.
Again going back to the bolded part. It's difficult to sign a CB in mid 20s who is young and established with rooms of improvement. The cost would be too high, we already have two young CBs on our books in Bailly and Lindelof. He wanted an experienced head alongside them so he could help them establish themselves or allow him to play 3 ATB. I ask you to name me one top club who has two young and established CBs playing at the heart of their defence?
Coming to Perisic and Willian, in modern times where width is provided by attacking fullbacks and wingers are prone to come in and participate in the play. These two are a rare breed who can hug the touchline and offer width. I don't see why their age would be a problem when 2/3rd of Mourinho's signings have been below the age of 25. You need a mix of old and youth to compete.
People who continue to parrot 'but he signed 2 CBs in 2 windows'! Well transfers are always going to be hit and miss, question is do you trust the managers judgment to make more correct calls in the market than wrong? Answer is abundantly clear to everyone on the back of this window, Woodward doesn't so again why is he dithering again to make the hard call? If you don't buy into his vision of the team, if you are not on the same page save everyone the trouble and sack him. Why make the fans suffer through the season?
Ok first off, I agree about Ed. I will even give you Toby, he may have improved us. Still, after signing 2 duds at CB, Jose should cop some flak and you can understand (if not forgive) Ed's disgust at buying another CB for the 3rd summer running. You can't keep bringing up the excuse that "Others like Pep also mistakenly signed Nolito and Bravo and replaced them" - firstly, Pep's other signings like Sane, Stones, Laporte, Jesus, Gundogan, B Silva, Walker, Mahrez, Ederson etc all look like the real deal. So Pep's success rate, though admittedly aided by City's structure, is far higher than Jose's for whom Lukaku, Pogba and Matic alone have been of any use, and even they haven't set the world alight.
Ditto for Klopp. A couple of bad signings like Karius and Klavan, but literally every other signing + some players like Firmino he inherited and improved have become his key players.
But seriously, you are saying we should buy fecking Willian for the sake of width? Averaging 5 goals a season, for 60 million from Chelsea just because our manager is best mates with him? No thanks, that signing would not even elevate us a great deal in the long term at all, and certainly won't win us the league in the short term either to warrant the outlay.
You know muppets when they claim Bailly is injury prone but beat their chest for Toby. I doubt Mourinho has a list of defensive targets, the name in the media the whole time was Toby Alderweireld, Maguire thing started after he scored that goal for England which I believe is all media drive for clicks.
All reported Mourinho transfer list were players in 29yr old plus. Willian, Perisic and Alderweireld. Woodward got him Matic last year at a reasonable price, the whole world blamed chelsea for selling Matic, and you think they will let Willian leave? Inter wanted 100M Euros for Perisic, Spurs wanted 60M for Toby a player that was injured for majority of last season and contract expires next year.
Assuming the club was able to get Willian and Toby, that is 120M+ on players that have few years left at this level. 3 years from now Mourinho will want to replace Sanchez, Matic, Toby and Willian which will probably require 500M to replace. If you back this kind of transfer strategy as a fan, like I said, something is wrong with you.
Alderweireld is not injury prone. Inter did not want 100 million for Perisic. Part of the reason why Lindelof and Bailly were purchased was because they were young, so they should grow into Alderweirelds position when he starts to decline. Same goes for other positions, that’s how squads and squad building works. It appears you do not understand that.
It also appears the clown Woodward doesnt understand our quality experience has left the club since SAF retired. We are relying on players like Valencia and Young for experience. Two ex wingers playing at fullback. Oh, and Chris Smalling who couldn't get into the England team because of how poor he is on the ball. Chris Smalling is supposed to be our most experienced and leader at CB? God help us.
Not once did Mourinho pair Lindelof and Bailly last year. The idiots on the board appear to think that he should just pair them together and it should work. If it doesn’t work, then it’s Jose’s fault and it proves we shouldn’t buy anyone else for him. What if he didn't buy them to pair them together at this very moment in their careers? The non footballing geniuses on the board know best though.
Does anyone think if Rio and Vidic were not around, SAF would have just purchased Smalling and Jones and paired them together at a younger age?
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There is so much wrong with your posts, it's borderline ridiculous. Inter didn't want 100m for Perisic, also Perisic was never discussed, in fact it was a completely different fecking transfer window.
You're calling people muppets, but then basically claim you know feck all but are going off what was discussed in the media, as if transfers don't come out of the blue. Bailly was out of the blue, so too was Martial, Sanchez came last second. Just because something isn't discussed in the media, doesn't mean it wasn't reality. Toby isn't injury prone, he had one major injury, otherwise has been pretty reliable in that aspect.
You claim that since only Toby was discussed in the media, it must mean he provided no other names, you then completely disregard Maguire who was constantly in the media, because it doesn't suit your argument. Hypocrisy at it's finest. Using your logic, Toby was fake news and was purely down to his exploits at the World Cup too. Your posts are actually laughable and not even worth a response, so that's me done.
Bless you if you buy into Ed's bullshit
That was just another of bazillion examples under Woodward where he has briefed the journos to save face when we couldn't get the signings done. Bale, Kroos, Thiago, Fabregas, the list is far too long.
Woodward handed Mourinho a new contract in January, you can be pretty sure he would've discussed his vision for the team for the additional year and what sort of recruitment that has to be done. Woodward had transfer targets with him few months into the contract renewal, if he was unhappy with the names suggested why not tell Mourinho straight up the club don't believe in his transfer strategy of buying 29 yo and instead buy players in the mould of Varane who are young and have room for improvement? Why wait till the end of window? Why leak it to media in the first place? Why not keep these things in-house? On the eve of opening day he's thrown manager under the bus and absolved himself of the poor transfer window and fans are gullible enough to buy into it.
This business has been handled very badly, you never ever wash your dirty laundry in public. To satisfy his ego, he did his bit. Showing who's the boss which is funny because no on ever questioned who is more important to the club but in doing that he has undermined the manager. He's left him with a squad which he doesn't trust and leaves us in a situation where this season is more or less a write-off. It should be bleeding obvious to anyone this is not how a club should be run. We badly need a structure in place between him and the manager because if he continues to poke his nose into footballing side we're doomed under any manager.
Again going back to the bolded part. It's difficult to sign a CB in mid 20s who is young and established with rooms of improvement. The cost would be too high, we already have two young CBs on our books in Bailly and Lindelof. He wanted an experienced head alongside them so he could help them establish themselves or allow him to play 3 ATB. I ask you to name me one top club who has two young and established CBs playing at the heart of their defence?
Coming to Perisic and Willian, in modern times where width is provided by attacking fullbacks and wingers are prone to come in and participate in the play. These two are a rare breed who can hug the touchline and offer width. I don't see why their age would be a problem when 2/3rd of Mourinho's signings have been below the age of 25. You need a mix of old and youth to compete.
People who continue to parrot 'but he signed 2 CBs in 2 windows'! Well transfers are always going to be hit and miss, question is do you trust the managers judgment to make more correct calls in the market than wrong? Answer is abundantly clear to everyone on the back of this window, Woodward doesn't so again why is he dithering again to make the hard call? If you don't buy into his vision of the team, if you are not on the same page save everyone the trouble and sack him. Why make the fans suffer through the season?
Absolutely spot on. If you think about the best teams in the world, currently, wherever you find a young CB they all have experienced/older CBs pairing with them (See Ramos/Varane, Pique/Umtiti etc). It's truly baffling how much hating a person can cloud all forms of reasoning and simple logic, particularly in football!
And before anyone mentions Smalling/Jones, you all have been moaning about them not being good enough.
Contrary to what many feel on this forum CBs don't become dead overnight at 31-32, in fact it's one of the positions where there is greater longevity compared to full backs or attackers. John Terry was a rock at age of 35, Rio had an outstanding season in 2012/13 at age of 34. Again it's easy to understand why Jose would want an experienced CB, I don't think Bailly and Lindelof are poor players. They need help, they need someone alongside them who can organize a defence, who can communicate with them and carry through games where they are struggling. None of the five center-halves at the club have this ability.
Besides a manager doesn't give just one target, he gives his chairman a number of targets in every position. Alderweireld was by all accounts his first-choice for a while, Woodward himself suggested to journos he never even approach Levy for buying. 'Younger person/' which you're on about Maguire fits that bracket, is it Jose's fault Woodward waited until Maguire had a great WC after which his price went through the roof? Why didn't he approached Leicester before? All the reports of us buying Maguire came after the World Cup. Buying a player requires a lot of things, it needs agreement within the manager, scouts and most importantly Woodward at our club. This summer has told us it's not the case and that's worrying.
Also why is an age of a player so relevant to fans? Ever gave a thought that manager wants an experienced personnel in that position? And if he does why is that a problem? Mourinho wanted Perisic last summer too when he was 28, Woodward baulked at £44m asking price of Inter. We'd have spent 2 seasons with Mata/Lingard at RW, yet fans are happy? Is that money of any use to us if it's not going into the squad?
Again if Woodward wasn't happy with the suggested targets, why not draw out some alternatives? (which is what DOF do all the time) Why yap your mouth after you have failed to buy those targets and that too out in public? How does that not bother any United fan? A person with no football acumen is making these calls, and to make matters worse he isn't keep all of this in private. He's happy to feed this to journos before the season has even started.
Like I mentioned, no manager has ever had 100% track record when it comes to signings. Question becomes do you trust their judgment to warrant spending more money? If he doesn't then do the sensible thing and sack him. Get another manager who'll want to build the club according to Woodward's vision.
I don't even know why you're bringing Pep and City, I haven't mentioned them even once.
Willian would've been a massive improvement over what we have, a player who hugs the touchline isn't going to score loads of goals for you but he sure will setup a lot. Especially with the style Mou wants to employ. There is no player on this planet bar Messi/Ronaldo who alone could help us win the league so that's a moot point. We have to take one step at a time. There are still glaring holes in our squad.
Also, I'm not sure why you're believing that figure. Woodward didn't even approach Chelsea for Willian. It could've been for a number of reason, maybe price was too steep or he simply didn't want to due to his age.
We paid £40m for Matic a season prior, Brighton should've shown every fan how important he's to our team.
I'm not defending Mourinho for his shitty football, I'm just giving out reasons as to why he would want these experienced signings. If Woodward isn't happy with his approach why not try and get him on same page? Convince him to go with younger options? And if he doesn't want to, then cut the cord. Why waste an entire season before doing the inevitable?
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The thing about the prices of players in world football, currently, is, nearly every player and their dog is overpriced! Would you take Pique, or Bonucci, or Ramos, or Godin, were they available at 50m, if that is their current value? I would assume so, that is if you had any sense.
So you either take a backseat - in terms of winning things and being competitive- i.e if you are looking for bargains and/or waiting for the prices to stabilize, or you do like Pep and co and say feck it and buy whoever is needed at the moment to move the team forward. As most sensible people have been saying on here and in the media, either back the gaffer you have placed in charge when he is saying add some experience to our young squad or sack him. It's not really rocket science is it?
Dont you know he would have paid 100 million for Varane who was obviously going to leave Real Madrid for Manchester United after winning three CL’s in a row?!!?
Whats fecking worse is that Jose is the one that purchased Varane whilst at Real. And this clown Woodward has the audacity to claim x player is or isn’t good enough.
I like Woodward, he's done an outstanding job for the club on the commercial front. He's crucial to us but at the same time I cannot defend his actions this summer, you simply cannot make the call when it comes to judging quality of the players. If you're doing that you're undermining the manager, that in itself is a problem. But the biggest problem here is that he revealed all of this to media for some bizarre reason. We badly need an infrastructure in place to bridge this communication gap between him and the manager because if we continue on this trend we'll end up nowhere.
Right, he should stick to what he is good at and leave the footballing stuff alone.
I appreciate the hyperbole. It's not like I asked for links due to someone stating it's Friday on a Friday. I asked for links for proof in reference to a specific claim that hasn't been mentioned anywhere else. I can't seem to find any sites reporting that Van Gaal never wanted Di Maria, so I'd still like a proper link and not just a link to a 23 pages long thread.
I'd imagine that with more focus on actually backing up claims, maybe people would have to do a bit of reading and find out that what they're claiming isn't true.
They all look the real deal now do they? Where were you season before last when they (Stones and co) were woeful and shipped 4 against Leicester? How about when Everton spanked them 4-0??
Proof on what ? You saw this money spent on another player ?
You made the following claim: "What we did is we refused to spend on either Willian or a CB to put this money into Glazers bank account"
So how much money have been put into the glazers bank account, taken out of Manchester United, since:
- this transfer window
- the past 3 seasons
- since they purchased the club
Since you are making claims about it, I'd expect you to know, unless you're just making things up again.
Defenders:
Valencia, Dalot, Bailly, Lindelof, Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Young, Shaw, Darmian
That's a total of 10 defenders competing for 4 spots let's say (not including youngsters) and you want Woodward to add two more (Alder and Maguire), so more wages and more players getting paid while enjoying the bench.
If you look at those 10 names, it is really hard to believe that picking 3 or 4 of them to do a decent job at the back is so fecking damn impossible.
Our mistake was not clearing up the players who are not up for it, you can't progress while keeping the old crop.
Valencia, Dalot, Bailly, Lindelof, Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Young, Shaw, Darmian
That's a total of 10 defenders competing for 4 spots let's say (not including youngsters) and you want Woodward to add two more (Alder and Maguire), so more wages and more players getting paid while enjoying the bench.
If you look at those 10 names, it is really hard to believe that picking 3 or 4 of them to do a decent job at the back is so fecking damn impossible.
Our mistake was not clearing up the players who are not up for it, you can't progress while keeping the old crop.
I was starting to think if Ed was the Riddler and I’m Batman. It’s not really that hard to grasp but people still don’t get it.
Bless you if you buy into Ed's bullshit
That was just another of bazillion examples under Woodward where he has briefed the journos to save face when we couldn't get the signings done. Bale, Kroos, Thiago, Fabregas, the list is far too long.
Woodward handed Mourinho a new contract in January, you can be pretty sure he would've discussed his vision for the team for the additional year and what sort of recruitment that has to be done. Woodward had transfer targets with him few months into the contract renewal, if he was unhappy with the names suggested why not tell Mourinho straight up the club don't believe in his transfer strategy of buying 29 yo and instead buy players in the mould of Varane who are young and have room for improvement? Why wait till the end of window? Why leak it to media in the first place? Why not keep these things in-house? On the eve of opening day he's thrown manager under the bus and absolved himself of the poor transfer window and fans are gullible enough to buy into it.
This business has been handled very badly, you never ever wash your dirty laundry in public. To satisfy his ego, he did his bit. Showing who's the boss which is funny because no on ever questioned who is more important to the club but in doing that he has undermined the manager. He's left him with a squad which he doesn't trust and leaves us in a situation where this season is more or less a write-off. It should be bleeding obvious to anyone this is not how a club should be run. We badly need a structure in place between him and the manager because if he continues to poke his nose into footballing side we're doomed under any manager.
Again going back to the bolded part. It's difficult to sign a CB in mid 20s who is young and established with rooms of improvement. The cost would be too high, we already have two young CBs on our books in Bailly and Lindelof. He wanted an experienced head alongside them so he could help them establish themselves or allow him to play 3 ATB. I ask you to name me one top club who has two young and established CBs playing at the heart of their defence?
Coming to Perisic and Willian, in modern times where width is provided by attacking fullbacks and wingers are prone to come in and participate in the play. These two are a rare breed who can hug the touchline and offer width. I don't see why their age would be a problem when 2/3rd of Mourinho's signings have been below the age of 25. You need a mix of old and youth to compete.
People who continue to parrot 'but he signed 2 CBs in 2 windows'! Well transfers are always going to be hit and miss, question is do you trust the managers judgment to make more correct calls in the market than wrong? Answer is abundantly clear to everyone on the back of this window, Woodward doesn't so again why is he dithering again to make the hard call? If you don't buy into his vision of the team, if you are not on the same page save everyone the trouble and sack him. Why make the fans suffer through the season?
If Jose doesn’t trust his squad it’s his own fault he’s had 3 years and plenty of money. This is his team. You say Ed shouldn’t throwing him under the bus etc etc poor José. Maybe if he didn’t spend 2 years throwing his players under the bus they wouldn’t feel undermined like Jose currently does. Be consistent.
I am starting to understand Ed's wariness about some of the people Jose wanted with regards to value. Who is this CB though? I like Pavard, I would have had Laporte, but that has gone. Ed seems obsessed with Varane, but that is not going to happen and there are times he can look as dodgy as other CB's. It isn't as easy to pick the right player who is actually that good and isn't just being made to look good by their agents and YouTube.
Jose brought Varane did he? Lool
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/toby-alderweireld/verletzungen/spieler/42710
https://www.transfermarkt.com/eric-bailly/verletzungen/spieler/286384
United fans, Eric Baily injury prone, Alderweireld not injury prone.
At this point, am just tired, belief anything to get the shinning new toys i guess.
https://www.transfermarkt.com/eric-bailly/verletzungen/spieler/286384
United fans, Eric Baily injury prone, Alderweireld not injury prone.
At this point, am just tired, belief anything to get the shinning new toys i guess.
Didn't he give him his debut? Not sure about buying him. Also with Jose it might have been he had no choice but to give him his debut and he struck lucky.
Whether he did or didn’t, he was still a big part of his development as a CB when he first arrived at Real. Nice to see that’s the only thing you could pick out of the posts I made.
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He was brought when Jose still in charged. People would love to give credit to Zidane who was Director in that time instead.
I can buy Varane for 100mil was a stupid point to made regardless. He wont come here on that sums.
The problem with Real does any manager get their players or does someone else make the decisions anyway? Why, as you say, would Varane come here. He is playing for a legendary club already, in a lovely climate, nice lifestyle and they are the kings of the CL.
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