A regurgitation of all the shit that's been written (made up) probably by luckhurst himself over the season.
MEN inside stories? Do me a favour.
MEN inside stories? Do me a favour.
MEN: Inside the worst Man Utd season in decades
- Thread starter #07
- Start date
The thing is, we're not. The worst case scenario is that most of these players stay and Ten Hag get's binned before January. Then we're absolutely fecked.
Martial's only good season was behind closed doors.
Comparing the dressing room with murder on the Orient express. Hope ETH is the Poirot.
The fans wont give him time. If he doesn't deliver next season they'll be baying for his blood. Then we'll hire poch and he'll also get sacked in a season or two.
Fun times ahead for ETH.
Luckhurst is right that our 2nd last season was a false position but it had more to do with the circumstances at other clubs that season rather than games being played behind closed doors.
Agreed on all counts. It's easy to want to burn it all down, but the reality is that Ten Hag will live and die by which and how many of these players he can bring back from the brink.
It makes absolute sense and is fairly common in all fields. Any player that wants to win and thinks that the manager's decisions are questionable could complain and "talk shit".
Possibly, which would be the worst thing we could do, IMO. There is no instant cure to such deep-rooted problems. The only positive is that surely things can only improve from here; it's hard to imagine results could get any worse.
They could complain, but if they were open to making positive changes and giving accurate feedback, they would speak to the manager or wait for the correct forum to raise concerns, not go behind the mangers back and call him 'specs'. It's schoolyard stuff
But who are the culprits? I keep seeing more and more of these articles popping up yet no mention of any names?
I genuinely don't understand that line of reasoning. Can someone please explain how exactly empty stadiums benefitted Manchester United specifically, in a way it did not with other clubs? Because otherwise, Occams razor would suggest this is not so much an argument as a convenient way to prevent the team's relative success last year from interfering with the conclusion that OGS was less than able.
Nevertheless, I think that conclusion is correct - the team collapse this season speaks for itself in that regard. But that doesn't change the fact that for quite long stretches, he got very good performances out of this squad. It's not just last year's second place finish, but also not least the long unbeaten run from February onwards the previous season, where we played some really wonderful football. Also, I think there are some strong indications that Carrick and McKenna provided more than they are being credited for; witness Rangnick's troubles without them.
OGS clearly hit the wall and was not capable of taking this team further, and ultimately became a victim of his own man management and stylistic pragmatism in particular. But the fact he ended up with problems he couldn't solve also points to other weaknesses in the club - contract policy, a lack of joined-up recruitment, too many unaddressed weaknesses in the squad, a general lack of direction. The success he had just depended too much on too few factors to be sustainable. I remain convinced the transfer window in the summer of 2020 was a huge missed opportunity to build on and solidify the huge progress of the preceding half-season. If we oversimplify this to the club having had two incapable managers, I think there's a risk we attach too little importance to the other things that badly need fixing.
Last edited:
We'll solve half the problem by gutting the squad and restoring the managers authority. The other half of the problem is recruitment and training players to play in a certain system.
That's obvious to those that don't have an agenda. Personally I think the situation isn't as dire as we think it is, I imagine some annoyed players are venting and when we vent, we exaggerate.
We have a proper Manager now and the squad is going to be getting a big shake up, some of the big egos are finally leaving. It gives him a chance to make some radical changes and force the board to bring in more than 3 players. I also think there are numerous players who's poor form will improve with proper structure by a settled coaching team. They're not all horrendous.
I read that as Bruno got rewarded with a contract despite him saying that. Or, Rashford/Shaw are angling for contracts and coming out with stuff like that. The one about a player receiving criticism and saying Solksjaer was “finished” has to be Rashford, doesn’t it? After OGS mentioned him focusing on his football.
ETH got his work cut out for him. Hopefully Utd will off load all of the cancerous personalities for whatever amiunt they can get. Clear the decks and give ETH a proper chance with players who are hungry and determined not primmadonna wannabes.
Wish we had Amazon's All or nothing filmed during this season.
There's a big hint in the MEN about a player who scored and was told to smile. They also quote a player multiple times and the language used sounds Mancunian to me, "I couldn't give a shite" for example. Sounds like Lingard/and or Rashford to me
Good grief. As if.
Very much so, but we must show patience. Gutting a squad takes time and there will be setbacks during a period of radical change. I hope Ten Hag, provided he demonstrates there is a concrete plan, is afforded time to implement it.
That's assuming that there is a correct forum or that they didn't try to share their opinion. You are assuming that management is receptive of any input from others or that the people quoted never raised their concerned to management. Surely you know that both of these things aren't necessarily true and that it's not uncommon for management(in all fields) to be extremely defensive when it comes to inputs, I'm pretty sure that caf members have an infinite amount of stories mirroring that experience.
I really do find it interesting that people aren't thinking about it a bit more thoroughly because these are things that we all have experienced in our personal and professional lives. In order to assume more we need to know a lot more about the context of pretty much everything written in that article and we all know that MEN are also perfectly happy to bend truth and omit things.
What a fecking mess
Ten Haag has the most difficult job in European football
Ten Haag has the most difficult job in European football
Not as good as Laurie Whitwell's dissection in the Athletic.
It was equally as cutting and revealing, but without the journalist tropes.
The fact they've both heard very similar stories from their contacts is incredibly concerning though.
It was equally as cutting and revealing, but without the journalist tropes.
The fact they've both heard very similar stories from their contacts is incredibly concerning though.
Last edited:
To go to print with something like this and be ready to back it with your name attached means it's not made up, embellished perhaps, but with sources as you don't go that in depth with such conviction without grounds.
You will *still* have people on here backing these players and talking about them and the new manager. I hope he scorches as much earth as possible and guts the squad as he sees fit and can do within the realms of possibility.
You do not start work with rotten foundations, and the talk of new players en masse having to find familiarity is no worse than a bunch of terrible players who already have form and rot here being allowed to repeat what are formulaic patterns by now. You raze it and start from scratch with any other recreants having no voice or power of influence.
Contemptible bunch who have outstayed any graces, let alone good ones.
You will *still* have people on here backing these players and talking about them and the new manager. I hope he scorches as much earth as possible and guts the squad as he sees fit and can do within the realms of possibility.
You do not start work with rotten foundations, and the talk of new players en masse having to find familiarity is no worse than a bunch of terrible players who already have form and rot here being allowed to repeat what are formulaic patterns by now. You raze it and start from scratch with any other recreants having no voice or power of influence.
Contemptible bunch who have outstayed any graces, let alone good ones.
Release Fergie on this squad. 
My god, what a disaster.
My god, what a disaster.
They have regular team meetings with senior players, and I'm not assuming any of that. I'm stating that regardless of how you feel about your management, it's never okay to go behind their back and call them things like 'specs' or say they're 'finished' because they criticised you. Even if they fecked up, you don't have to stoop to their level and make it petty. Go through the correct channels, to their boss if they're unwilling to listen, be professional. This name calling and play power has to stop if any manager is going to be successful.
I'd send Keane in at this point. Tell him we'll sell anyone he thinks doesn't have the character.Release Fergie on this squad.
My god, what a disaster.
Wish I had a contract what tells me inside info mate. Contacts now they'd be even better...
I can't wait for ETH to rip this squad up and bring in new players, to actually play for the badge and club not some pay packet. It might take 2/3 windows but I'm fully behind him and his team to do what is necessary.
The stuff about Conte and Ronaldo is nonsense - because it infers that Ronaldo didn't want to work hard. When he's the hardest worker in perhaps the entire world of football. We're supposed to believe he didn't want to work with Conte based on this but then supposedly green-lit the recruitment of the guy known for introducing gegenpressing? The most intense form of football. It doesn't add up at all.
The season is finally over, lets forget about ALL of it.
Yeah it's bullshit but the Sam Lockhurst tried to push the 'Ronaldo is the problem' narrative quite hard at the start of the season.
Yes, that one seemed to have stronger sources. This one is more opinionated, but its MEN so expected.
Are we confirmed to be just signing 3 players? Missed that. And wasn’t aware we only had just a new manager coming in? Thought there were all new coaching staff and set up too along with the changes to scouting, recruitment and negotiations.
Must have missed the bad news
No, if anything this is the season we should never forget
Or they have the same contacts.
Suspect this is behind a paywall. What did Whitwell say?
I don't think there's much question that most of it is materially true.
For one, a lot of it echoes Laurie Whitwell's own more extensive article in The Athletic yesterday. And second, it is accompanied by public comments from both Mata and De Gea this week that also seem to allude to issues in the dressing room. Two players you would suspect are not prone to bitching about teammates to journalists.
And aside from all that, we've actually been playing like a team with these sort of issues. I don't think we could be this shit unless these sort of problems were rife.
Spot on