Rate our (extended) Summer 2020 Transfer Window

[Woeisme]

Will the signings we made bridge the 30 plus point gap between us and the top of the premiership?
Will it at least half it?
Have any of our signings improved our first choice starting 11?
Did we address any of the areas that most on here, recognise as the priority positions? RW,CB,CDM
Did we cull the dead wood that we have been talking about doing for the last 2 years?

Very underwhelming window.

 

[Bestietom]

A CB was needed and we may be sorry we didn't sign Partey.

 

[midnightmare]

The window defied all logic and - in my opinion - left the biggest holes still gaping. In one case, left the big concern area in worse shape than before.
We needed:
1. A right sided attacker. Pellistri isn't ready by all accounts - and Diallo won't be either when he arrives. So no better than last year.

2a. A center back. We didn't sign any. And we sold Smalling, who even if not a better defender than the rest can at least stay fit, which already puts him ahead of Bailly, Rones, Axel and Rojo. So we are, arguably (?) weaker in this position
2b. A good defensive midfielder / central midfielder - this may not seem obvious, but the ideal midfielder for us would be a mix of Scott's energy and passion with Matic's vision and passing. We may have been ok with Matic for another season while Scott / Fred compete to develop and make the role theirs - but that would have been predicated on having a solid CB coming in. With no strengthening at CB, I think a high quality holding / deep midfielder would have been a good addition.

Full-back, back-up striker, depth in attacking midfield... all good to have and van de Beek is a good signing, but to my mind the top two positions that we needed to fill were left completely unattended and that makes it a 3/3.5 out of 10 window.

 

[Amadaeus]

Why are you comparing one season to another season? Every season is it's own thing. There can be 40 teams in the top division and United having 100 points doesn't mean anything if they don't win the league or finish 10th. It's about the final table results, who the feck cares about total points compared to previous seasons.

So if you're now saying that United statistically had one of the best defensives in Europe based on goals conceded, then doesn't the manager have something to do with that? And then you compare that defense to the current defense through 3 PL matches....same exact players, but they are severely underperforming due to a major factors and some reasons can include the manager, but the players are making way too many individual mistakes and are getting punished for it.

See that's where you aren't understanding the point of having football men in charge of the football side of the club. If the manager sets out targets that are too overpriced, then you communicate that to him and you work with the scouts, your network, managers, coaches, recruitment head on identifying players who can provide the input needed for the right output (results) for the first team. You don't think that Woodward is telling Ole, hey this is our budget, this is what they are telling us and these are the fees...we need to move on and here's what we're trying to get and here's why. But from many sources, United aren't conducting business with other clubs directly, too many intermediaries for too many peoples likings. And if you do business with middlemen, you know that shit isn't always smooth sailing and that you're at the mercy of someone else trying to conduct business you don't exactly control...and that's frustrating. Sometimes it has to be done that way, but usually you incur additional expenses and stress when dealing with middlemen...and that just shows you're kind of inept or don't have the resources to conduct all business transactions if you're using middlemen. Which is okay to admit, but when you're the size of United and claim to have all these financial resources and means, you shouldn't be doing that.

It's not even showing more confidence in the players they have, it's knowing the fecking gap between United and Liverpool is significant and if you have a target of challenging for the league this season, then you better get them reinforcements of proper quality and then the proper time to get the players, current and new, up to speed not considering injuries, suspensions, etc.

Hiring a better manager or more innovative manager than Ole isn't difficult....what is difficult is having that footballing IQ at the top of the club and having it go through the club. Good managers need, always, good players to be good teams. You can't make a cake with shit. You could make it a little better, but you can't make cake with shit. And that doesn't mean signing the world's most expensive players...it means having a system that brings in quality consistently at good value and you're understanding that the players who come in at different times can and hopefully will overlap in terms of optimal or near optimal performances so you have a mesh of young, older, old/experienced heads and losing one or two players (or managers) doesn't mean you're starting from zero, but able to carry on for the most part if not improve.

Bruno didn't 'save' Ole's job...he made the team better. As did Martial, as did Greenwood, as did getting Pogba back, as did Matic, Fred, and McTominay doing their part. As did the defenders, as did DDG. You win as a team and you lose as a team, but the manager will always be underappreciated and overappreciated.

Having competent players isn't saving a specific job, it's just a competent and realistic thing the club should be doing. Neglecting the right wing for years after Valencia went to RB wasn't LVG's fault, nor Mourinho's...don't you think if you're in charge of the football club like Woodward and whoever else, you look at your product and say, hey....we're kind of lagging on that position or from what I've seen across the leagues, seems to be lacking...hmmm...maybe I should bring that up to the relevant people at the club and see what they think, but because I'm CEO I'll make the decision on behalf of the club...since that's my job after all.

That perspective is very limited if you just look at just the final league table. You can’t tell how well a team performance with just that data and with more data, the more you can formulate a better conclusion. In this instance, there isn’t 40 teams in the league, there are 20 teams and having a point talley as bad as Moyes just shows that we have underperformed numerous times throughout the season and did not show enough consistency to say we heading in the right path as seen at the start of this season. The manager as I stated is a very streaky manager. Us having one of the best defense tells more about the quality of our team because it shows that they have the capability to perform at such a high level. It is the manager job is make sure that is done on a consistent basis, not just solely on a good streak of performance. However, because there is no leadership we can be as bad as a relegation team and as good as a title team. You don’t see many managers at a top level having such a low bottom level for an extended period as we have here at United.
Ole sets unrealistic targets, as if he still plays football manager. No board will sanction a deal for Sancho, Grelish and Upamecano last summer especially with the COVID crisis. If we had a manager along with a transfer comittee that follows that manager philosophy, alongside communication with the financial department of the organization, our transfer activity will be more structured. But, we don’t have any of that, as we have a manager that targets pricey world class signing and a board that aren’t footballing people. I m actually surprised that this summer, we were able to make strewed transfer business as I taught we would have just overspent on Sancho and another player. So perhaps something is going right behind the scene.
Those saying there is a huge gap between Liverpool and United don’t understand the effects a good manager can have on a team. People said the same thing years ago with Chelsea and City dominance, until Liverpool hired Klopp. United are in the same position and getting the right manager with a progressive philosophy will change things quickly. You say a manager can’t make cake with shit, but there are plenty examples of managers with shit players that have performed well in this league. Wolves, Sheffield, Leeds, Spurs, Arsenal, leceister and Everton don’t have top class players or spend as much as we do on players. Yet, their manager now and in the past has put out competitive teams that has performed well in various competition.
If we didn’t sign Bruno, I have no doubt Ole would have been sacked. Bruno turned around our season and also the introduction of MMM that complimented him. He was the root cause that helped changed the outlook of that season for us. The neglection of right attacker was definitely the fault of the managers. When previous and current manager have stated that they have landed their primary target and have spent close to a billion pound, you have to question why wasn’t a right attacker a primary target for these managers then and now when they had the fund to buy a quality right attacker. Woodward isn’t on the training pitch. He should have no input on our transfer activities unless it is about the economic of the deal. Managers should know what their squad need much more than then a financial guy who main job is the financial aspect of the organization.

 

[elnorte]

Should have had a 'meh' option.

 

[archiebald]

The window defied all logic and - in my opinion - left the biggest holes still gaping. In one case, left the big concern area in worse shape than before.
We needed:
1. A right sided attacker. Pellistri isn't ready by all accounts - and Diallo won't be either when he arrives. So no better than last year.

2a. A center back. We didn't sign any. And we sold Smalling, who even if not a better defender than the rest can at least stay fit, which already puts him ahead of Bailly, Rones, Axel and Rojo. So we are, arguably (?) weaker in this position
2b. A good defensive midfielder / central midfielder - this may not seem obvious, but the ideal midfielder for us would be a mix of Scott's energy and passion with Matic's vision and passing. We may have been ok with Matic for another season while Scott / Fred compete to develop and make the role theirs - but that would have been predicated on having a solid CB coming in. With no strengthening at CB, I think a high quality holding / deep midfielder would have been a good addition.

Full-back, back-up striker, depth in attacking midfield... all good to have and van de Beek is a good signing, but to my mind the top two positions that we needed to fill were left completely unattended and that makes it a 3/3.5 out of 10 window.

Filling the right wing position was always going to be tough once we failed to get Sancho.

We are also in dire need of a hardworking, decently mobile and positionally aware CDM who can effectively shield the 2 CBs who always seem to be a liability no matter the pairing. Not sure if this is going to be addressed anytime soon after we shelled out for Fred and most recently VDB.

Telles was absolutely a must have this window if only to get someone who might actually be able to play the overlap with Rashy on the left wing.

 

[RU Devil]

Based on current needs, I can't give it more than a 3 or 4 at most. Yeah, some of the veterans might fill a few needs, but I don't think we really upgraded the squad that much to the point of actually competing for honors. Plus the way Woody conducted the whole window was a travesty. If we weren't going to pay the full asking price for Sancho (or even come close), then it would have been better off getting other players in sooner than later. A lot of options were lost due to this bumbling behavior. The youngsters look to have great potential, but that is all it is, potential. It is rather doubtful they will have much impact for this season. Maybe in a year or 3, we'll look back & say "what a great window", but if that comes at the cost of a lost cause this year (along with the resultant loss of players like Pogba), then it might not be worth it. A bad season would mean having to pay that much more to get/keep good players since that would be the main incentive to play for Utd ($$$). That would continue a spiral of bad upper management, using resources that would be better off saved.

Will be interesting to look back at this thread if/when the season is completed.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Terrible window.

 

[Sea-Cow]

The fitness excuse is irrelevant and I don’t understand, why fans keeps using it. Other teams played as much game as we did before coming into this season and they have looked sharper than us this season. We have players who could perform much better than we have, especially against palace and Brighton, but the leadership isn’t there to put out a team or motivate the players to show more productivity on the pitch.


If Ole has showed that he can have us playing beautiful football and has a progressive philosophy, then I would say that these signings will benefit from that. However, when you watch us play, it doesn’t look like we are being coached. I have more optimism for these signings if we bring in a progressive manager like Pochettinowho has a great track record of turning these type of unknown to world class talent.


We have Martial who was our player of the season last year. We were never really going to replace him, but rather give him competition, which we did with Cavani, even though we have Igahlo. We have enough depth in st now, which is improvement over last season. Matic can be moved on after this season, but Fred and McTominay are great squad options for us. There is nothing wrong about the trio currently. No rush to get rid of the deadwood if there is no buyer. They can still do a role in the team with proper management. Ole doesn’t need time, because he already has time to gel with the players he has had before this window. Numerous signing makes instant impact, so I m not going to lower the standards further for Ole. Even James jelled instantly, so his signing don’t need time.
The only thing that was missing in this window was a quality right attacker.
Sancho reported overall cost would be over £270m. I wasn’t a favor if such an expensive acquisition, even though he is world class. I would have preferred us acquiring Dembele on that loan to buy deal. He would have made the window almost perfect. So overall, we have been backed.

Not trying to be a prick here, but just honestly curious about Poch's record of turning unknowns to world-class talent. Maybe Kane? Or Ali?

I agree with you that Ole is definitely not the one and I think we desperately need an upgrade at manager and coaches, but I just have no idea who that should be.

 

[Zeno]

Upon further reflection...disappointed but ultimately satisfied with that transfer window. It shows a growing maturity in transfer dealings at United. An understanding that you may not always get the person you want - or need. But that doesn’t mean you blow your budget on some ’name’ in an effort to hang on to third place.

 

[Andycoleno9]

Imo, it was good. 3/5. We bought cover for 3 positions and two young players instead of Sancho.
Selling was pretty shit though.

 

[McGrathsipan]

The window was a Fiasco.
Its a billion dollar company that apparently does not do any planning to bolster the work force for the product they fcuking sell. Its mind boggling how this can happen in every window.
The football is what they sell. It appears to be the most neglected part of the business. Madness.

Take Dortmund - they set 10th August deadline so that means they can replace Sancho if he left. At that point we hadnt even apparently made a bid. It was just a 10 week poker hand where the whole world knew Dortmund held the cards.
Embarrassing for Woodward.

Then he does what he always does and goes and panics into the market on last day. Fiasco.

We are going nowhere in his Iron Grip. I think he likes the press.

F for Fiasco.

 

[Gandalf Greyhame]

Ole's post match presser brought me back here. I was reminded of how mind-boggling it was that we managed to screw the last summer window up so terribly.

Telles was the only option who could have helped us straightaway and he looked promising before being out with Covid. Cavani and VDB are still finding their feet, and the other two young wingers aren't of immediate help. Given the short break between last season and this one (and how our squad was knackered by the end), the pandemic induced jam packed schedule, Maguire's summer incidents and Greenwood's issues - this is the most brutal start to a season I can remember in a while where we jumped from low fitness to being overplayed in a month.

We needed a lot more this summer to bring quality squad depth to the table. It is inexcusable that James and Mata are getting so many minutes, that the likes of Rashford/Bruno/Maguire/AWB are being run into ground 7 games into the season because there are no other options. And it's only going to get worse given the way the fixtures are piling up already.

Over time, when VDB and Cavani have settled in, Telles gets back to pre-fitness levels, Greenwood is back among the starts and Amad Diallo is an option, we may look better. But as of now, I find it hard to blame either the manager or the players for some of the results.

 

[MikeKing]

Ole's post match presser brought me back here. I was reminded of how mind-boggling it was that we managed to screw the last summer window up so terribly.

Telles was the only option who could have helped us straightaway and he looked promising before being out with Covid. Cavani and VDB are still finding their feet, and the other two young wingers aren't of immediate help. Given the short break between last season and this one (and how our squad was knackered by the end), the pandemic induced jam packed schedule, Maguire's summer incidents and Greenwood's issues - this is the most brutal start to a season I can remember in a while where we jumped from low fitness to being overplayed in a month.

We needed a lot more this summer to bring quality squad depth to the table. It is inexcusable that James and Mata are getting so many minutes, that the likes of Rashford/Bruno/Maguire/AWB are being run into ground 7 games into the season because there are no other options. And it's only going to get worse given the way the fixtures are piling up already.

Over time, when VDB and Cavani have settled in, Telles gets back to pre-fitness levels, Greenwood is back among the starts and Amad Diallo is an option, we may look better. But as of now, I find it hard to blame either the manager or the players for some of the results.

This has been clear to me too. It's the same thing that happened after the season we got second place, only this time you have the epidemic to add on.

 

[Borys]

Ole's post match presser brought me back here. I was reminded of how mind-boggling it was that we managed to screw the last summer window up so terribly.


Telles was the only option who could have helped us straightaway and he looked promising before being out with Covid. Cavani and VDB are still finding their feet, and the other two young wingers aren't of immediate help. Given the short break between last season and this one (and how our squad was knackered by the end), the pandemic induced jam packed schedule, Maguire's summer incidents and Greenwood's issues - this is the most brutal start to a season I can remember in a while where we jumped from low fitness to being overplayed in a month.

That's true, and although we're in bad place in the league, I think we should be optimistic for the future. Our play has been better than the table would suggest. It could've been worse.

We needed a lot more this summer to bring quality squad depth to the table. It is inexcusable that James and Mata are getting so many minutes, that the likes of Rashford/Bruno/Maguire/AWB are being run into ground 7 games into the season because there are no other options. And it's only going to get worse given the way the fixtures are piling up already.

I don't agree on that. We should've do all we could to bring first team winger in. This is already hurting us, with Greenwood/Mata being out.

 

[Matt851]

Pretty terrible

Its not just what we ended up with as the lack of a clear plan throughout

Also our signings look worse when compared with what the rest of the top 6 did. Even arsenal improved by more