Ole says this season will be used to find next season’s squad

Tom Cato said:
I'd like to step in here and remind everyone that this is exactly in tune with Ole's vision for the squad. We are building to compete for titles next season. This season was always going to be about signing the right pieces and identify what kids can take the step up and what players we need to buy in the upcoming windows.

This is the same information in new words.
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It is absolutely non-sensical to think that performances will improve vastly ‘just because’; no one expected a title challenge - most thought top4 would be difficult but this season has been shambolic.

The right pieces? We start a defence/goalkeeping unit with a value of £200+mil most weeks & still concede goals the likes we saw on Sunday. An overpriced CB instead of midfielders that don’t crumble in every away game really isn’t good business.

The blind faith given to OgS despite no actual tangible evidence of improvement [we have gone backwards] is exactly why this club deserves the mediocrity we are mired in.

Blind optimism with absolutely no proof of improvement means we can challenge for titles next season? Ridiculous.

Had he not played here he wouldn’t be here, if he loves the club admit the task is too big & leave.

When our form fell off a cliff at the end of last season he talked about preparing for this season; this season goes terribly & now it’s about next season. Joke of a manager.
 
Shamana said:
He's not going to say "I'm shit, I should be sacked or will be soon."

He'll be gone in the summer if not before. At least if our results dont improve. If he isn't then Woodward is even more mental than I thought.
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I get that but he’s constantly talking about the future, he needs to say nothing and start delivering.

Hes written off this season before Christmas ffs it’s a sham.

He was saying the same shit last year and teasing a massive summer overhaul, never happened did it.
 
I have a horrible feeling that Ed has promised him his job is safe no matter the performances/Results as Ole has completely sold him on this ‘future’ plan even though he’s not capable of delivering us to a promising future.
 
Drainy said:
He never said that so...
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No? So what do you think he means by saying this season will be used to find a squad for next season?

poleglass red said:
Didn't Pep do the same in his first season, hasn't Klopp been doing the same since he joined Liverpool in 2015 in regards to the league.Ole has changed the complete system the team plays, no long balls en masse from central defence. Those changes take time.He's played most of the season without his centre forward in Martial and his only source of creativity from midfield in Pogba. He's moved on some deadwood, he needs to move more. His mistake was not replacing Lukaku, but that hopefully gets addressed in Jan and we will continue to upgrade in summer. You can see Ole has a long term plan, you see it in the players he wants.His record isn't too dissimilar to Klopp at the same stages of their rebuild, and that's what it is, a rebuild.
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No point in comparing him to Klopp or Pep, that's like trying to compare Lingard to Messi. He has changed the way we play, but outside of counter attacking we are clueless. I don't see a long term plan, there's nothing in our performances that gives me hope we will be better under Ole next season. You can bring in better players but our tactics will hinder their performances.
 
This guy is a politician. I think he's in wrong profession.
 
This season will be used to find next season's manager as well I suppose.
 
Castia said:
I get that but he’s constantly talking about the future, he needs to say nothing and start delivering.

Hes written off this season before Christmas ffs it’s a sham.

He was saying the same shit last year and teasing a massive summer overhaul, never happened did it.
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He's doing a Moyes. "needs more time". Look at what Rodgers is doing with Leicester. I don't dislike OGS, but in the end. He's not a attacking manager. He has no pedigree. The whole going for british players mainly is mental. Look at the best players of the PL era. Cantona, Henry, Ronaldo, Auguero, Toure, Silva, Viera, RVP. Are going to deliberatly close our eyes to the best talents in the world because they are not british?


Yeah he might turn into Saf if we give him 6 years, but it's not going to happen. We have to let go of this small club mentality. We were making fun of Zidane earlier and look how they are doing now. The quality of their football is another lvl to us.
 
reddevil702 said:
No? So what do you think he means by saying this season will be used to find a squad for next season?
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'I knew this would be a difficult year, but we've done worse than expected. Get your arses in gear or you are off. I've done it to 5-6 players, who wants to be next?'

We are not that far off 4th (tho Chelsea are very strong favourites), and are still in the cups, in spite of how crap we've been. It wouldn't make sense for him to be saying the season is over.

'Fans' are in a psychosis and frenzy about how shit we've been, so not unexpectedly that twat from MEN has successfully twisted it into 'the season is a write off' in some people's minds.
 
He's just trying to motivate the players a bit more. "Perform or you won't get your contract extensions". Like last season's "some of this squad won't be here next season" speech.
 
Drainy said:
The senior management definitely have finances at the top of their agenda, but that doesn't mean we'll be signing anyone just for the brand.

Part of the finances being number 1 priority for the club is cashflow management and not overspending in one transfer window is clearly the way that the club wants to go. The club is clearly moving in an 'academy first' direction, with players being brought in to cover gaps where the academy can't. Which seems like a smart move since transfer inflation is out of control.

If you've followed u18s/23s football over the last few years you'll know that the current batch is quite promising in the 18-21yo group. We've restructured the academy and the scouting network (after Moyes decimated it), when people are asking 'where are the scouts looking', most of the scouts appear to be focused on youth football and we've been bringing in some really highly rated 15/16yo players (a few of whom are injured at the moment so hype hasn't started building yet).

We have a lot of 21-25yos in our first team squad, and a few weak links in the 26-30 age range which partly explains why our mentality and quality is so inconsistent. From my perspective, Ole is trying to bide time so our best 21-25yos become the seasoned pros that are leading our squad along with the best of the current 26+ players and we get the the next batch through, along with new signings to cover the notable gaps in experience in the squad, and what is being produced from the academy (or where the academy lads don't make the grade). The obvious gaps in the squad being number 10, Striker and a deep lying midfielder - where our cover is basically some young lads who aren't ready for the job consistently. The reporting in the press is that Ole is more than aware of those and trying to fix over the next 2 windows.. we'll have to see if the club backs him properly.

It's clear that he wants to impose his own brand of football on the team as well, with a 4-2-3-1 high press system that the players seem to be struggling with. It can't change overnight given the hand he was dealt and where he wants to get to. He's made a start with shifting 7 and bringing in 3.

If he gets to this point next season and we've backed him and its still not working then we should be looking at a new manager that plays in a similar style but has a more proven track record. Hopefully with a more balanced squad they will be able to produce.
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This is a very well put together, intelligent post. I am in full agreement of all your points in general. They are well explained. I don't disagree that we're not going to find 4+ top players overnight to catch up to City/Liverpool, we simply don't have the budget, so it makes sense to target their future replacements and aim to be peaking when their teams start to slow down.

The biggest question i have though is, i seriously question whether Ole is the guy to execute this plan to the fullest. Our resources dictates we should only want the very best shouldn't it? Why are we experimenting with someone with little experience/past quality? Shouldn't we want the best guy we can find, who has past evidence of achieving exactly what we're trying to do?

The fact that Ole thought it was wise to buy Maguire for £80m, let Smalling go, let Lukaku leave without a proper replacement, has alarm bells ringing for me. We were having problems breaking down deep defences last season, it's been nothing new to us. He decided it was best to upgrade the defence instead, that is on him.

In the 12 months he's been here now, can you honestly say we have improved even a little bit breaking down deep defences? I don't think we have. What is it, 1 win in 11 with us dominating possession?

To me, with Ole in charge, whoever we get, they won't be playing to their full potential under him. As just getting players is not the full solution.

I just don't trust him to get it right.
 
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Shamana said:
Are people really saying that our squad is not good enough to not lose to Watford? Literally the worst team in the league? There are excuses, but no excuses for being beaten by teams with much much worse squads than us.
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Massive Spanner said:
Hey guys, remember that time we got beaten 2-0 by one of the worst PL sides ever and people actually refused to put any blame on the manager?
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That match even reinforces my thinking. Watford wasn't even good, we were just so bad. Some players dropped below the standards of what a Man Utd player should show even without a manager, knowing that Ole will get a lot of the blame and they can hide behind him.

That's what makes me mad. Ole hasn't been good, but some performances have been diabolical really.
 
I should have known not to check this thread.

There’s still people who are annoyed with Lukaku being sold? The dude wanted out after his first fecking year!
 
Big Ben Foster said:
Ah, the old "building a foundation" excuse. Remember hearing it a lot from fans during LVG's second season. Turns out, there was no plan and no foundation being built all along.
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Well Jose scrapped most of that so we can't really know.

At the very least, our strikers currently are Martial and Rashford, both introduced by LVG, and both generally key players this season. There may have been more success stories had he stayed or had we not hired basically an opposite manager to him.
 
Eriku said:
I should have known not to check this thread.

There’s still people who are annoyed with Lukaku being sold? The dude wanted out after his first fecking year!
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Engage your brain maybe? Lukaku sold + replacement = happy. Lukaku sold + no replacement = not happy.
 
Pretty fair. I think most people would have accepted the idea on day one, that given where we were and the years of terrible squad assembly, that 20/21 was a more realistic season to expect to be competing more convincingly.

Saying that, it shouldn't and I'm sure doesn't mean this season is a write off.

I'm don't think that we will get top 4 and don't particularly care. I don't agree that being in the champions league means you will sign better players. Players like salah, mane, maddison, firmino, Robertson and endless others would all have left their clubs for a non CL team at the time they moved. We have to sign the right players.

I'd like to fluke a cup win and try to continue to implement a core of wan bissaka, maguire, mctominay, James, rashford to build on in January and summer.
 
bosnian_red said:
He said that last season didnt he?
I dont think hes an awful manager tbh. I do think with a better squad and filling in our gaps would improve us loads. But I don't think he'll ever be more than competing for top 4. We need a manager who can implement a style where we impose ourselves on every team we play and know how to break down teams who sit back. We're clueless at it as it stands.
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Said exactly that, saying some of those who played the last game had played their last games for us!
Now, you could say Lukaku, Sanchez and Smalling were proven right, but Smalling he'd have kept.

He needs to realise he may well not get to the summer if we don't improve.
 
His 'free run' at the tail end of last season was supposedly so he could assess the squad and figure out who didnt belong here. Remember his comments about that 4-0 loss to Everton? Remember the team that day? Now have a think about how many of those players actually left and how many are still here getting game-time. The summer window was supposedly also for him to finalise his squad assessments and implement 'his style'. He 100% didn't do the latter, and that is based on the majority of our performances (we were meant to be the fittest team in the league and palying attacking football, remember - the United way). The former, he is now telling us, he also didn't do in full.

The guy is a complete snake-oil salesman. A spoofer of the highest calibre. He's chatting absolute bollocks to deflect attention from his poor showing as permanent manager.
 
It is crazy if we keep him based on our results and dire football. Give him to the summer and then go for a top manager.
 
MaxiPaxi said:
No way that could have been said during the summer after 3 months of abject performances? Why in the world would a coach need a year to decide who's good enough and who is not.
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Because lots of changes are happening...
-youngsters being given games in order to assess if they re good enough. - McTominay, Greenwood,Garner and Williams.
- a number of players being moved out :Fellaini,Herrera, Sanchez,Lukaku,Darmian
- other players nearing the exit : Matic,Rojo,Jones
- a number of players given last chance : Martial, Shaw, Perriera etc in order to assess if they re still good enough

Ideally you don t make all these changes in 1 season, but due to the procrastination showed by the club in the last years, now we are forced to make these changes in a relatively short period.
We re like Manchester City before the Arabs took over...

The only way to do it faster would have been signing 6 players during the summer but it seems that Woody wasn't prepared to spend that much in such a small period of time because financials are still the most important thing for the club
 
bosnian_red said:
He said that last season didnt he?
I dont think hes an awful manager tbh. I do think with a better squad and filling in our gaps would improve us loads. But I don't think he'll ever be more than competing for top 4. We need a manager who can implement a style where we impose ourselves on every team we play and know how to break down teams who sit back. We're clueless at it as it stands.
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He said it last season. Jones, Young, Mata still here.

Lingard is still starting matches with the lofty stats of 0 goals/assists in 25 hours for goodness sake. :lol:

The players are really shaking in their boots as we speak.
 
Majima said:
He said it last season. Jones, Young, Mata still here.

Lingard is still starting matches with the lofty stats of 0 goals/assists in 25 hours for goodness sake. :lol:

I bet the players are really shaking in their boots as we speak.
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Think the point being that, we get rid of every experienced player then it’s a slippery slope towards the relegation zone.

I’m all for keeping a certain amount of experience in the squad but let’s see if we add to the squad with quality, and what happens to those who are surplus to requirements
 
Sound familiar to me like all the promises before summer.

After all these contract extensions, I have doubt “these players” (quite plenty) are the ones to be moved on with wage like that and another season of underachieving. We would be paying to rid of them in that scenario which harming the ability to spend (spending wisely, competent negotiation is already an issue in the first place, mind). The rest ain’t that many considering our squad depth at the moment, so I don’t see the “big turnover” that was promised, coming.
 
Alabaster Codify7 said:
His 'free run' at the tail end of last season was supposedly so he could assess the squad and figure out who didnt belong here. Remember his comments about that 4-0 loss to Everton? Remember the team that day? Now have a think about how many of those players actually left and how many are still here getting game-time. The summer window was supposedly also for him to finalise his squad assessments and implement 'his style'. He 100% didn't do the latter, and that is based on the majority of our performances (we were meant to be the fittest team in the league and palying attacking football, remember - the United way). The former, he is now telling us, he also didn't do in full.

The guy is a complete snake-oil salesman. A spoofer of the highest calibre. He's chatting absolute bollocks to deflect attention from his poor showing as permanent manager.
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Snake oil salesman and chatting bollocks eh?

Sums up a few posters;)
 
Just seen this. While we may have all been thinking it, it’s still different seeing in print. Sound like excuses and as much as it pains me to say it, Ole needs to go. He’ll literally be saying the same thing this time next year if he’s kept on.
 
Drainy said:
'I knew this would be a difficult year, but we've done worse than expected. Get your arses in gear or you are off. I've done it to 5-6 players, who wants to be next?'

We are not that far off 4th (tho Chelsea are very strong favourites), and are still in the cups, in spite of how crap we've been. It wouldn't make sense for him to be saying the season is over.

'Fans' are in a psychosis and frenzy about how shit we've been, so not unexpectedly that twat from MEN has successfully twisted it into 'the season is a write off' in some people's minds.
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He said something similar last year when we drew to Huddersfield, it was along the lines of - there a chance you seen the last of some these players - do you know how many players are gone? Sanchez & Herrera. This isn't a message to the players, it's another excuse to the fans. The top 6 are the weakest they've been in years and yet we are in 8th, 7 points off top 4. It's not a twist by the media, it's the manager's words.
 
Inigo Montoya said:
Think the point being that, we get rid of every experienced player then it’s a slippery slope towards the relegation zone.

I’m all for keeping a certain amount of experience in the squad but let’s see if we add to the squad with quality, and what happens to those who are surplus to requirements
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Like last summer, where we got rid of all our experience without replacing them properly?

We avg £60/£70m net if that, past 3 years.

I'm expecting more of the same to be honest, you would have to be naive to expect otherwise.

It's all just lip service to appease gullible fans, into thinking it will change come summer = renew season tickets.
 
Majima said:
Like last summer, where we got rid of all our experience without replacing them properly?

We avg £60/£70m net if that, past 3 years.

I'm expecting more of the same to be honest, you would have to be naive to expect otherwise. It's all just lip service to appease gullible fans, into thinking it will change come summer = renew season tickets.
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What experience did we get ‘rid ‘ of exactly?
Herrera and Lukaku wanted to leave. In the former’s case he wanted a salary we weren’t willing to match. While I think he was a super player at times, he was absolutely gash at times.
Lukaku’s case has been well documented.
 
Majima said:
Like last summer, where we got rid of all our experience without replacing them properly?

We avg £60/£70m net if that, past 3 years.

I'm expecting more of the same to be honest, you would have to be naive to expect otherwise.

It's all just lip service to appease gullible fans, into thinking it will change come summer = renew season tickets.
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100%. That is all this experiment is.

'The Plan' basically amounts to "win a handful of football games if you can; tell the fans there's a plan they can't see on the pitch; see if you can keep them hooked until the tickets get renewed then we'll have a chat next summer and see if we can get you some more players."

That is the plan. There is no grand scheme going on behind the scenes, its owners/CEO/manager all buying time until the next renewals and see if some mud sticks when it's launche at the wall next summer.
 
Inigo Montoya said:
What experience did we get ‘rid ‘ of exactly?
Herrera and Lukaku wanted to leave. In the former’s case he wanted a salary we weren’t willing to match. While I think he was a super player at times, he was absolutely gash at times.
Lukaku’s case has been well documented.
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Fellaini, Herrera, Lukaku all left without being replaced properly. I'm not talking about how/if they deserved to go. Just stating that they weren't replaced properly afterwards.

So we can't expect the club to properly replace players this summer too.
 
Ole said exactly what a thoughtful and good manager would say, under the circumstances.

Nobody expected him to bounce the shit team he got in one transfer window. Everybody who has a clue said it would be multiple transfer windows. Heartbreaking as Watford loss was, there is nothing shocking about what Ole is saying. Stop painting him as some kind of clueless manager. He is not. Clueless managers cannot win the games that he has won. It's insane how suddenly entire Caf is an expert football manager. Go try getting the results that Ole has gotten and then criticize him.

We are certainly not where we want to be (which he said himself) but I swear sometimes I feel like we don't deserve Ole. Was boring, trash football LVG had us play what you preferred? Or did you enjoy the toxicity in the last season of Mourinho, when our team became a media spectacle? And those were two of the most decorated, most experienced coaches of their times!

Caf users who are crying for "Pochettino" would have been the very same people to put a dagger in his back, as soon as he had a misstep. And he would have had it. Six years of mismanagement doesn't get fixed overnight, for feck's sake.

Appreciate what we have, do get upset when we lose, but also be realistic.
 
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Alabaster Codify7 said:
His 'free run' at the tail end of last season was supposedly so he could assess the squad and figure out who didnt belong here. Remember his comments about that 4-0 loss to Everton? Remember the team that day? Now have a think about how many of those players actually left and how many are still here getting game-time. The summer window was supposedly also for him to finalise his squad assessments and implement 'his style'. He 100% didn't do the latter, and that is based on the majority of our performances (we were meant to be the fittest team in the league and palying attacking football, remember - the United way). The former, he is now telling us, he also didn't do in full.

The guy is a complete snake-oil salesman. A spoofer of the highest calibre. He's chatting absolute bollocks to deflect attention from his poor showing as permanent manager.
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/This.

I called it in the Summer. Wish I could be arsed to dig up some of the absolutely comical responses defending this clown based on nothing but hope - I was a conspiracy theorist because I thought the summer window was a shambles.

The man is & has been the public face of an inept regime. Using his good will as a player to cover up for his & the rest of the management structures lack of ability to run this club successfully.

Ask his defenders for one tangible piece of evidence that he has improved anything & it goes very quiet.
 
Alabaster Codify7 said:
100%. That is all this experiment is.

'The Plan' basically amounts to "win a handful of football games if you can; tell the fans there's a plan they can't see on the pitch; see if you can keep them hooked until the tickets get renewed then we'll have a chat next summer and see if we can get you some more players."

That is the plan. There is no grand scheme going on behind the scenes, its owners/CEO/manager all buying time until the next renewals and see if some mud sticks when it's launche at the wall next summer.
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Sounds about right. The fans are frothing at the mouth to go along with any old nonsense, as long as it's said by a familiar face, so they might as well keep it going.
 
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Majima said:
Fellaini, Herrera, Lukaku all left without being replaced properly. I'm not talking about how/if they deserved to go. Just stating that they weren't replaced properly afterwards.

So we can't expect the club to properly replace players this summer too.
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Careful, you’re talking a few too many facts here.

Don’t forget OgS is only responsible for selling players people don’t like; everything else is the blame of Woodward & co.
 
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