The part about the 1-year extension and terms was reported in numerous outlets. The part below that were my views on something that could be an issue related to that.Just make something up and then state it as a fact.
Noussair Mazraoui | has signed for United
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I'm happy to be proved wrong but I'm not convinced that's true. Feels a bit like shiny new toy syndrome rather than actually moving the needle.
We have signed 18 players since Ten Hag took over as manager. 4 of the 18 are players he's worked with before and one of those 4 was a loan signing who has gone now. A handful of others happened to play in the Eredivise at some point earlier on in their careers - some on loan for a season as youngsters.
At least half the signings don't have even a tenuous link to Ten Hag or Dutch football. Of all 18, the only buy you could call an unqualified success is Martinez, and he was an Eric call through and through.
At least half the signings don't have even a tenuous link to Ten Hag or Dutch football. Of all 18, the only buy you could call an unqualified success is Martinez, and he was an Eric call through and through.
AWB is dreadful.
I'm flabbergasted that EtH's agreed to let VdB go what with him being Dutch and Ajax alumni. 
8 out of 18 with links to Dutch football is a pretty high ratio, 9 if you include the tenuous link with Mason Mount. That's half his signings.
If you only include permanent signings, players with links to Dutch football account for more than half of our signings under Erik ten Hag. That's not about to stop if we're targeting the likes of Mazraoui and de Ligt this summer.
I agree. Bayern dont sound bad players and this is a cheaper deal that is a bit more versatile with his ability to play left back.
But Im underwhelemed....as it a cheap versatile deal, a decent one but feel adds little.
There is the annoyance ofall these Ten Hag past player signings, unlike possibility of DeLigt though....this smacks of another decent player who was in a good Ajax side but not a really good player that progresses us.
Its all well and good strengthening the squad against possible injuries like last season....but right back probably the area we least need to improve the squad as we have two good right backs....we need to improve the first choice, this signingdoesnt do that and I dont think he is much better than a Bissaka....and it still costs us £5-10m probably anyway
I don't agree with that assessment. He's far from perfect but I don't think it's a given that whoever comes in will be an automatic improvement either.
Didn’t EtH himself address the veto being removed as part of the negotiations? Im sure I read it during that lengthy interview of his which was posted on here. He said he still has a say in transfers of course. In that very same interview, he also said MDL was proposed to him by the club - so if we ended up signing MDL, Zirkzee, Yoro & say, Ugarte this window, it’s pretty clear that his influence has lessened - something I myself am quite happy with.
You just need to look at his fbref stats to see why he is better than AWB. He actually progresses the ball. He isn't going to be a better one on one defender, but he's probably better positionally, tactically and technically to what we want our full backs to do.
It's always a trade off with wan bissaka and everyone wants us to be better in possession and more attacking. Having Mazraoui instead of Wan Bissaka as an option for RB and LB will do that.
Will be a good signing as can cover both fullback positions.
Really not a fan of AWB. Dont think he is close to good enough. Surprised if another PL team is actually keen. But I would rather stick with AWB than this player. He is simply not good. And he is very injury prone.
I'm just seeing this post from you....I'm sorry, what?
How did you come to this conclusion? Just total nonsense.
I came to the conclusion based on the manager probably feeling more confident about signing a player he knows something about than one he doesn't. He's already signed off on a lot of players he knows well or has worked with in the past. This is all assuming he has the ability to veto proposed transfer options.
I hate stats to be honest. Does he improve inthose over Dalot though? My point was more we need a first choice right back. The quality of our first choice and the drop off to second choice is far higher in other areas
Maybe not, but I think Dalot will improve again this season. I get if you want a first choice RB, I would have Vanderson for that, but I don't think we see it as a priority with the cash we do have to spend - I would agree.
What we do have is two polar opposite RBs stylistically, so I think adding someone who can cover both sides and is a better fit stylistically for maybe £10m? Is a good deal.
I read over the Dutch interview translation, which I think is the one you're referring to, and I didn't see any specific mention of the veto. ETH said that he was happy to have Ashworth, Wilcox and Vivell to support him and that they made decisions together. However, he did also say that signings have always been a joint decision (not just since the new structure came in place), made in consultation with Murtough and the scouting team.
"We determine the composition of the selection together with the sporting director, and we carry out that process together. We have to agree with each other, otherwise it won't happen. That's how it was at Ajax. Very simple actually. In today's football, as a manager you can no longer scout yourself. It doesn't work that way anymore."
My reading of the interview doesn't make it sound to me like things have changed that much in terms of his influence, aside from there being more people (Ashworth, Wilcox and Vivell) to support ETH.
You're right that ETH said De Ligt was suggested by someone else this summer, though he did also acknowledge that he tried to sign him 2 years ago when he chose Bayern. With that in mind, our scouting team almost certainly would have known that ETH is a fan of the player and would back the signing, though it at least suggests there are others that think he would be a good signing.
Yoro was a step in the right direction. Leny was very well known still, so I would also like to see some lesser known players brought in also. I'm hoping we might see some of those after our priority transfers have been brought in.
You can look over that Dutch interview translation here if you want to re-read it yourself:
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/eri...on-i-have-ever-experienced-as-a-coach.483743/
There's absolutely zero indication IMO that ETH would veto a transfer just because he doesn't know the player. Hojlund was a 19 year old who was playing in Austria when ETH took over at United. Yoro was a 16 year old playing in the youth team of Lille. We signed them both very soon after bursting onto the scene. ETH was on board with both signings.
This veto thing is so overexaggerated at this point. I can guarantee you it almost never happens. The manager, the people above him, the scouting department, everyone who has a say in our recruitment is very well aware of what we need and which players we need to sign to solve our problems with. It's not difficult to be in alignment with each other. It's not like there's constant fighting going on over which player each party wants to bring to United.
His fitness record is a massive red flag. Given our luck with injuries this guy won’t be available when we need him most.
Yeah in fairness - most teams/managers would’ve (especially two years ago), but my point was more that it wasn’t EtH pushing for MDL this time which is a decent enough sign of things having changed a bit.
Yep, that’s the one. I think he might have mentioned both MDL & Zirkzee being pushed by the club in that interview. Guess worst case, at least there’s a lot more joint decision making versus seemingly EtH having way too much power over signings.
Not saying ETH has to know the player personally, but in the case of Yoro at the least I'd be shocked if ETH wasn't already aware of him. He's one of the highest regarded young players in the world, playing regularly since the age of 16. I'm sure nearly all top managers in Europe were aware of him.
Hojlund was possibly less well-known and probably the best example of a player not being suggested by ETH. I suspect he might genuinely have first been brought to ETH's attention by our scouting team. Because of how badly we needed a striker for so long, there's a good chance ETH was able to watch him (and other striking targets) for months before the eventual signing. Because of this, it wouldn't necessarily be exactly the same as just blindly trusting the scouting team.
There are definitely examples of clubs signing players the manager hasn't seen play before (or has rarely seen play) based on the recommendations of sporting directors. I don't get the impression that is the direction we have taken. Whether that model is better or not is up for debate.
I'm not convinced that ETH wouldn't use his veto on a player he doesn't know much about. Just my opinion.
The injury issues are very worrying, coming to a club with an awful injury record in a physical league can't be good. Hopefully the new structure know what they're doing.
AWB in Germany would look miles better than the AWB in the Premier League, is one problem. Haven't we learned anything from signing players surplus to requirements in lower level leagues? Add to that he's headed straight for the treatment table and he's dumber than a bag of hammers.
This will be a terrible signing that will erase some of the positivity and shine of the Zirkzee and Yoro signings. 2 steps forward 1 step back.
It’s a no brainer to sell AWB as no way he can be given a new contract. Not convinced by Mazraoui as his replacement though, especially given fact he hasn’t played a lot at Bayern.
I suppose this is part of the problem, said few months ago of all the players whose contract was expiring up to summer 2026 there wasn’t really anyone other than Amad you’d be looking to offer a long term deal to. Going to have to take a few risks and find some cheaper solutions because so many players would leave for free or be sold on the cheap and Mazraoui feels like that type of signing.
I suppose this is part of the problem, said few months ago of all the players whose contract was expiring up to summer 2026 there wasn’t really anyone other than Amad you’d be looking to offer a long term deal to. Going to have to take a few risks and find some cheaper solutions because so many players would leave for free or be sold on the cheap and Mazraoui feels like that type of signing.
We were linked with him before Ineos bought a stake
By anyone reliable?
This would be true for any manager though. I'm sure the vast majority of managers would rather sign a player they know than one they don't. That doesn't mean he'll automatically write off an unknown player I he's of the right profile.
Good news. Allowing AWB to leave on a free next year doesn't make any sense when we have a willing buyer this summer. That means we need a right back. If they are also versatile enough to cover our problem position at LB, too, all the better. Mazraoui fits the bill, won't cost much and knows exactly what Ten Hag wants from his fullbacks. His injury record could be better, although he missed fewer games through injury than Wan Bissaka did last season. When fit, he's excellent.
Wan-Bissaka is a brilliant one on one defender but he's not good enough for United. Mazraoui is better on the ball and better going forward. Plus, it gives Antony one last chance. Also apparently he's good at left back? Ticks a lot of boxes.
There's no point holding on to these limited players if we can sell them.
There's no point holding on to these limited players if we can sell them.
Hope he can prove he is over his injury problems of last season, also concerned about his perceived weakness with crossing
Oh wow, this might be happening then.
Decent player, can cover both sides, big threat going forward... I just don't see how we can possibly keep him fit.
Hope I'm wrong if this is happening.
What's the injury record like before last season
He's managed 20 league games in a season once in the last five years.
Jeez Utd this is an enormous risk with our recent injury records for relatively fit players
We’re about to Malacia the poor cnut
He's already got injury issues, just needs us to make them even worse which is very likely to happen
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