Better than Jose? At the moment that is a stab in the dark. Also it looks like he is turning the ship around slowly but surely - I for one hope he succeeds here!
Manchester United ready to back José Mourinho with £100m-plus in January
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Better than Jose? At the moment that is a stab in the dark. Also it looks like he is turning the ship around slowly but surely - I for one hope he succeeds here!
If he’d just got in with it there wouldn’t be anything to turn around.
I don’t see why he would be given anything to spend in January, in fact it would be idiotic to invest large sums of money when he is unlikely to be our manager next season.
The money either should’ve been spent in the summer or should be saved for next season.
If this is true they might as well take those 100m£ and flush them down the toilet after I've taken a dump. Apart from Pogba and Ibra all his signings have been massive flops Lindelöf is finally after 1 and a half year getting a good run of games, Bailly sitting on the bench for Smalling, Mkhitarian traded for Sanchez who has been even worse for us imo and on triple the wages. Not to mention the 75m£ blown on a guy that looks shockingly reminiscent of Emile Heskey. Jose should not be given a penny more to spend, save it for another manager.
You can't think like that, if the season is not going that well, we need to correct the course no matter what. Trying to sack Jose should not make the club forget about the ultimate objectives to fight for the title or rank correctly for the next season. And I think Jose is showing something with the players. Let them try to be as best as they can.
This, you fans in here moaning about us spending (supposedly) are the worst. You care more about disliking Jose than the clubs success. There's a good chance we're in a fight for top 4 and securing the CL place, all you should care about is improving our chances to do so.
We evidently need investment in certain positions and I'm glad the board aren't writing the season off in some petty feud with the manager.
Icardi for £70m is as likely as you signing Salah from liverpool
Immobile's problem in Dortmund wasn't football, it was the city and the country
This is the 6th time the ship has been “turning”.
Just seems like a "look how right I was with Maguire and Martial" repackaging of the Woodward brief we saw in September.
There won't be any more players available in January than there were in the summer.
There won't be any more players available in January than there were in the summer.
The briefing mentions that funds are available only if the players are as well. Which means, we aren't probably signing anyone. But if someone like Koulibaly becomes available (Or Varane, to quote Woodward, lol)...we will buy them regardless of the manager since no manager would say no to players of their quality.
That's precisely why this is a pointless season. Jose lacks both motivation and ability to do anything significant with us. In the CL, we are like a rich man's Benfica or Porto -- decent history but fodder for the big clubs and occasionally even bullied about by the likes of Sevilla. In the league, there are 5 teams playing better and atleast 4 of them with better managers in terms of having a vision and direction. Already out of one cup.
If this isn't the definition of pointless, I don't know what is. They say we will make a change next season, but it's getting to be like Liverpool's "next year" -- I know we will eventually improve even despite the incompetence of the board, but I'd like that to happen now when I'm young, not when I'm 50 years old, which is what it appears to be heading towards.
That depends of the selling club. IF they're looking to make a huge profit on a player, then January is the proper time to do it.
It is. And you're Manchester and England. Closer to Dortmund and Germany than ItalyIt's not, but whatever.
We aren't in Dortmund or Germany.
Considering Zaha said living in Manchester drove him to depression, I'd rather not.
This clearly a briefing by the club, and it's meant to appease the fans.
It's ridiculous to think that if we get one defender or one striker we suddenly will click into gear.
It's ridiculous to think that if we get one defender or one striker we suddenly will click into gear.
Sometimes small changes might have big effects.
But I also happen to think that the problem with this team goes deeper than the quality of 2-3 players (defenders). The whole approach is dinosaurish: not enough movement, pressing, speed in moving the ball, etc. Jose's system is not sufficiently good imo. Even if we go on a winning run of 7-8 games, we'll manage to revert to type.
Why is the scouting system at United so bad? There's been threads about Koulibaly, Skriniar, Romagnoli for years when they were 20-30 million players, why is United cottoning to those players now when they clubs will rightfully ask for 100 million a pop? Same thing with Icardi, it's clear to anyone that understands football that he is a great goalscorer and should have been targeted a few years ago, yet we were told the striker choices were basically either Lukaku or Morata? Er, what?
Why are we always the desperate buyer, the schmuck, the guy with money that gets taken for a ride every single time? When's the last bargain United struck in the transfer market? Why are we used by every agent / player (Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Godin, Muller, Griezmann and countless others) to just obtain a new contract with their existing club? Ronaldo used United's interest every single summer to get better terms with Madrid; the moment it was clear that he might be tempted to move, the real transfer pros at Juve swooped and got the deal done with no fuss. No unnecessary leaks, no press campaigns, no bs - just an agreement with the player and the club, and the deal was wrapped up in 2-3 weeks. Woody couldn't get it done in 6 years.
We need a world class operator behind transfers to get deals done, when they need getting done. And we need a competent DOF to set the transfer strategy years in advance, to target the right talented players when they're young, hungry, and attainable not when there's no fire in the belly and they're just another old mercenary after a paycheck (aka Sanchez, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Zlatan, now we're targeting Toby who will be another lemon!). The manager/coach will always be short-termist in nature, they don't know if they will be here in 2-3 years, so they focus on the players that will bring results, immediately. It's not necessarily the best outcome for the club. The club need a long-term strategy that looks for the benefit of the club beyond the (short) tenure of the coach.
Why are we always the desperate buyer, the schmuck, the guy with money that gets taken for a ride every single time? When's the last bargain United struck in the transfer market? Why are we used by every agent / player (Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Godin, Muller, Griezmann and countless others) to just obtain a new contract with their existing club? Ronaldo used United's interest every single summer to get better terms with Madrid; the moment it was clear that he might be tempted to move, the real transfer pros at Juve swooped and got the deal done with no fuss. No unnecessary leaks, no press campaigns, no bs - just an agreement with the player and the club, and the deal was wrapped up in 2-3 weeks. Woody couldn't get it done in 6 years.
We need a world class operator behind transfers to get deals done, when they need getting done. And we need a competent DOF to set the transfer strategy years in advance, to target the right talented players when they're young, hungry, and attainable not when there's no fire in the belly and they're just another old mercenary after a paycheck (aka Sanchez, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Zlatan, now we're targeting Toby who will be another lemon!). The manager/coach will always be short-termist in nature, they don't know if they will be here in 2-3 years, so they focus on the players that will bring results, immediately. It's not necessarily the best outcome for the club. The club need a long-term strategy that looks for the benefit of the club beyond the (short) tenure of the coach.
We hear these leaks ahead of every transfer window. I think its just Ed trying to deflect criticism from himself by chucking big numbers around, which a lot of fans lap up. For me personally though, I have little faith in our clubs ability to pick up the right players, so big numbers don't excite me any more. It just suggests to me we're going to continue our habit of trying to fix our problems by just spunking cash with no clear plan in mind.
Well put.
What's this? Do my eyes deceive me? Some common sense in a sea of irrational emotions?
Sad as it may be, I think you're probably right. It happens practically every season.
Reeks of bullshit. If the players we wanted and the funds needed weren't available in the summer window then why now? More of Woodward trying to cover his ass using the media I suspect. At any rate I don't trust the fraud managing us to spend it right.
Should have been done in the summer, I'll believe it when I see it.
Is it really common sense tho? I think the poster before speaks more sense than that post you quoted. We don’t really know what the full story with Jose is, are the board planning to let him go at the end of the season or aren’t they. If they are, what is the point in allowing him 100mil (if true) to spend on his players. It would also depend on who he is targeting and if it’s the “right” player for United. If it’s say 100 mil for Skriniar,Koulibaly or someone like Varane then I’m sure the board would give him money as those guys will be of a future benefit to the club. If it’s a 100 mil for him to buy whoever he wants like say a Willian, Peresic, Boateng and the likes then it’s not sensible at all.
Basically this is it here in a nutshell there is and will always be money there for the “right type” of player. What Jose determines that as being and what the board determines that as being is where I would imagine the problem is.
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100 million in this current climate isn't a ton of money. Jan is always a difficult time to buy, you end up overpaying even more in this inflated market., if it's not transfer fee it is wages. We are still a few players off being where we need to be, if we could get 1 player in, I'd take a centre half and then continue to rebuild in the summer. I'd love a right winger if there was any change left over. I think one steady composed centre half would help give us a more solid foundation to work off. To be honest I actually think we need a whole new backline and that includes Shaw, who has got better but still isn't good enough but that's just being greedy.
100% agree
Castles saying the club have given him a list of players THEY want to sign...
Meanwhile, on Albert Square
Meanwhile, on Albert Square
Have to think like that, if you want to correct things and salvage the season sack the manager, if want to give him the season fair enough but desperately spending money in January should t and won’t be an option.
I don’t think he has shown much, he has caused unnecessary problems and only partially/temporarily resolved them.
At the end of the day we all know how Mourinho behaves, know the type of players he wants and how long he lasts at clubs. The time to back him has been and gone, he makes do with what he has now and either earns his salary or gets sacked.
I’m sure it’s been said but why back him now rather than the summer - mid season and over inflated prices
Your post is arguing against Jose rather than assessing what our side needs though.
If the club still see Jose as our best option then we need to back him. No point in saying he has to prove himself if the board doesn't need that proof.
Of course he has to prove himself, he is doing a very poor job this season. Out of the title race before it even started and good chance of not even making top four. The club needs better tactics, better coaching and a better style of play more than a splurge in January.
We know how the club think, they stick by the manager because they don’t know what else to do. His job is under threat and will be for rest of season unless there is dramatic improvement and he finishes in top 4. There is a reason he wasn’t backed in the summer and that will only be reinforced in January.
Woody playing Football Manager with a real life football club?
I feel exactly the same. We are awful at spending money.
Ain’t that the truth.
It's interesting what rumours people choose to believe & what they ignore. We're all too smart to fall for the media bs, or Mourinho's bluffing, or Woodward's deflecting... then most of us (myself included sometimes) just make up in our own heads what's really going on... with no more information than we had before. It's the fact that so many of us then cling so passionately to our own narrative that's currently got me spinning into a particular shade of red cafe existentialism.
But that's your opinion. If Jose is backed it will show he has won back the confidence of the board. It wouldn't be the Utd board backing a manager that they're not sure of like it's being made out like on here.
Jose getting funds answers all our questions
He won’t be backed, talk of spending in January is just PR, players won’t be available and manager probably is unlikely to keep his job beyond this season.
He will only win back the board if he finishes in top four. Woodward will spend more time recruiting a successor than new players, same as he did to Moyes and LVG.
Load of shite, IMO.
Why now instead of in the Summer? It's too late. This season is gone. If they're worried about getting in the Champion's League at all, then they won't back José, they'll sack him in the next four weeks and back his replacement. I think the board had already decided in the Summer that José isn't a long-term plan, hence a reluctance to back him. I think it is almost guaranteed he won't see a fourth season in charge, so we won't see a heavy investment in him.
I'd be surprised if we did more in January than sell Darmian and loan out one of Pereira or McTominay. I'd bet quite a bit on us not signing anybody, other than maybe a new deal for someone like Smalling.
Why now instead of in the Summer? It's too late. This season is gone. If they're worried about getting in the Champion's League at all, then they won't back José, they'll sack him in the next four weeks and back his replacement. I think the board had already decided in the Summer that José isn't a long-term plan, hence a reluctance to back him. I think it is almost guaranteed he won't see a fourth season in charge, so we won't see a heavy investment in him.
I'd be surprised if we did more in January than sell Darmian and loan out one of Pereira or McTominay. I'd bet quite a bit on us not signing anybody, other than maybe a new deal for someone like Smalling.
Because the board realised they fecked it. They played with fire and got burnt.
One thing saying 100m is available quite another to actually put money where Woowards mouth is, suspect they might sound out Spurs for TA again,failing that do not see Utd spending now what they would not do 3 months ago!
Tell you what, after we sack Jose Mourinho, let's destroy another manager myth by giving the new manager a contract only to refuse to back him in the market only months later, making his job harder, then sack him for not being able to overcome the odds. That'll show them all how crap our next manager is too.
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