So was it a good pre-season? Anything you take from it going into the season proper?

Really exciting pre-season (dropping off in the last 2 slightly).

Positives: Rashy, Martial, Sancho looks like forming a deadly strikeforce. GREAT new signings. Some amazing potential in the young lads
Negatives: Maquire still getting exposed for pace. Beeky still getting caught in possession and/or giving the ball away too easily. We still seem to be relying on McFred as our DMs - Personally I'd love to see Garner replace one of these, and/or maybe see Fred further forward where he never lets us down.
 
BuzzKillington said:
I think EtH deserves credit for what he seems to have managed to do with the playing side. We look sharper, able to pass a ball and we seem to have discovered how to effectively press (at least when “the king” isn’t playing). In short we actually look like a football team with a competent manager, who are capable of playing decent football for the first time in about 8 years.

But EtH deserves the criticism for the transfer side of things. There’s no way the club have made a decision to only sign Ajax or former Ajax players, so that is on him.

We’re an injury to Fred away from not actually having a single passable senior midfielder. Our squad is ridiculously thin in certain areas. 18 year olds fresh out of the youth setup are good for experimenting with when the pressure is off. They shouldn’t be your bench and who you’re looking at to bring on and change a game when it’s not going well.
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The club sacked their most senior scouts at the end of April, they clearly don't trust the quality of their scouting (despite having this huge network worldwide) so what was Ten Hag supposed to do? Of course he would want some of the players he knows and who will understand his system quicker but he doesn't take the criticism, that's the club's failure again (hopefully they're rectifying those issues for future windows). If the club felt that they were able to identify better options themselves then there would have been more of that but instead they've had to look to Ten Hag, who has never been as responsible for recruitment decisions, to give suggestions.
 
The pre-season has been excellent. The players are adapting to the required style of play, improved stamina in terms of pressing and match fitness is quite good. The academy has also shown 2 or 3 talents who will be fitting into the first team, so all in all we have a interesting squad this season.
 
Desert Eagle said:
Good:
No serious injuries
Learning the ETH system
I like our 3 signings

Bad:
Our squad is weaker than last year and than our rivals
Ronaldo drama
De Jong drama
transfer window in general has been a shambles.

less than 7 days till the season starts.
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I would agree with all of this. It's been great to get as much match practice as possible and learn the new system under ETH. That cannot be understated.

However, when you look at what our first 11 is likely to look like for the first game of the season, we haven't done anything near enough in the transfer window. I don't look at our attack and feel confident. I wonder where the goals are going to come from. I look at that midfield two of Fred and McTominay and there's just nothing there. Getting Eriksen is a huge plus, as is Martinez and Malacia. But, we are still woefully short in central midfield (and STILL that defensive midfield position) and up front.

It's as good a preseason as you could expect on the pitch. That part is fine, we did what we needed to do there. Off the pitch, however, is another story. Massive gamble dedicating the entire window to de Jong. He HAS to come now.
 
Some of the fans are confusing transfer window with pre-season. Pre-season is about match fitness, method implementation and from the manager's point of view, understanding the player's progress. Leave the management to ETH and lets build some enthusiasm for the upcoming season.
 
Pros from pre season

Sancho looks sharp - looked great in the games he played.
Fred will have a good season under ETH
Garnacho should be in and around the first team NOW
Martial and Rashford look more determined for now
Malacia looks ready to play in the first 11, Eriksen and Martinez will both be starting within a week or 2
Some of the young lads had some good moments in pre season

Cons

Right back - They are all useless
Centre back pairings... Just feel like none work. Martinez will hopefully make it work with someone and solve this
Very very very light in attack and midfield.
Elanga isnt first team standard. Not good enough to be the next in line if Sancho or someone injured.
McTominay and Van De Beek have been poor in pre season.
 
I think the FDJ stuff is an extremely rare situation that we’ll probably never see again. I don’t think we’ve done anything wrong in it. I get the feeling we know it’s going to happen but it’s between FDJ and Barcelona to sort it out between themselves, but we’re not bending over backwards completely to try and make up those deferred wages owed to FDJ.

Other than that, I am content with the pre-season. Its mainly about the players getting used to eachother in the ETH way of playing, and the early stages look good so hopefully onwards and upwards. Even when we beat Liverpool 4-0, ETH sternly said we had a lot of work to do, so I admire that realistic viewpoint he has and that he isn’t getting carried away by any means.

Would be nice to officially seal 2 more players + FDJ. A new forward would be nice like Sesko or Antony. Personally I feel like Antony can be returned to next year due to his loyalty to ETH and that we have a good relationship with Ajax. Sesko feels like someone who could go to Leipzig or Dortmund, be a hit and suddenly we‘re priced out, leaving us kicking ourselves why we didn’t act.

Would be interesting to see if we go for a new right back as I think that’ll fix some issues too. Let’s not forget Guardiola and Klopp love their fullbacks.
 
Started well then seemed like we reverted to type.Looks like we'll be seeing a fair bit of McFred and a disinterested R7 throwing his arms around for a while yet.
 
All our exciting good football has come against reserve sides and Australians… but at the same time, all our worryingly predictable football has come with a second string ourselves. So ultimately, not an awful lot learned, other than our second string aren’t very good!

I do feel scheduling 2 last minute games with split sides, a lot of back up players, new players and an unfit Ronaldo has rather ended things on a bit of a whimper, which gives a bit more room for the doom mongering than was really needed….

Ideally you’d wanna build up to a near full strength side with great cohesion by the end, but then fitness is obviously the most important thing, and not being able to bed in our new players earlier was our own fault, and Ronaldo, his….
 
On the pitch... pretty decent, looked fluid at times and not like a bunch of bumbling morons.... with the caveat of course that its only preseason.

Off the pitch... not great. We've only sold one player for cash, and brought in three players - with arguably none of them being nailed on as starters. Feels like there's still loads for us to do in the market - but we'll probably only get one more midfielder (FDJ or someone else) and I'm not sure that's enough.

Not being able to get rid of Ronaldo is also a bit of a downer for me.
 
I think the issue will be that actual results may not reflect the progress we have made, because we haven't got everyone in that we need, and are probably going to depend on younger players as backup to see out games / cover for injuries. There is also the issue around how Ronaldo behaves / leaks to the press.

Pro's

Faster flowing possession football - thank god we finally have a coach that balances physical effort with touch and technique. He's willing to play younger players in positions that traditionally we have favoured physical cart horses. I'm hoping we see more of Iqbal than we do of "Dray" McTominay

Scrutiny of performances - EtH and his team seem to be able to quickly spot the difference between "trying" to run / press and actually doing it. In th past we had players doing "just enough" running to claim they were pressing / running back, but not actually doing it at full "maximum effort" as EtH is often heard shouting!

Discipline & Authority - Some players did'nt even bother to pretend to put in a fake effort at times last season (Jogba). EtH has been ruthless in getting rid of such players, or is looking to move on players that haven't got the touch, technique or effort to represent the club. He's got rid of the low hanging fruit in Telles and AWB, but will face a sterner test if the Ronaldo situation goes viral in the papers.

Con's
Weak in depth - without going into voodoo economics of Barca it was impossible to cover every weak area in the squad. Ideally we'd want Prime talent in all spots with a mix of talented youth and competent backup as their ready replacements. We're probably going to depend on younger players a little too much this season, with all the inconsistency and errors that come along with that. So we may well dominate a game for 60-70 minutes but then fade as younger playees tire or lose concentration. We will lose games in patches as we get injuries to key people.

Lack of preparation - EtH is famed for his attention to detail and prep work. It's not ideal that we are still waiting for the midfield metronome of FdJ to join us so we can get the right pacing of our midfield and get them interacting with how our forwards will be positioning / running. The Ronaldo situation also emphasises this. I can see a use for him as an impact sub after 60 mins to either smash home some goals against weaker teams or crack open a tired defence with his reputation making opposition defenders panic or change things to try and deal with him. However it remains to be seen if he is willing to accept that role.

Media / fan influence - United is always a big story - add CR7 to the mix and you have a potentially explosive story landing any day of the weak if CR7 wants to leak it. if he remains and becomes disaffected, or other fringe players revert to type and start moaning to the press then I can see EtH might begin to struggle with the role. He is clearly a detail guy, but doesn't maybe have experience of the sort of media onslaught he could face. I think the key here is that fans try and look at output on the pitch, initially probably just for spells in a game, and try not to react to actual final results. I can see some defeats happening, given the weaknesses we have, but if I see progressive play...improving players...growing influence in games then I can accept a few results going against us. The question is will other fans spot this or will they just follow the howls of the sports media and their cliches about "premier league proven" etc.


So the real question is...will the fans and the club continue to back him in the face of maybe a bad start or poor run of results? - i know I will, from what I've seen so far this guys a potentially Great Manager!
 
Biggest takeaway is that there are still major question marks all over the team. In literally every department. We actually did not materially improve any single department of the team which is amazing after the worst PL season in club history.

In attack, I still don't see anything that lets me believe that Rashford or Martial or Bruno have changed for the better.

We still have no midfield.

And in defence there are still question marks across the entire back four. Malacia looks good but is unlikely to unseat Shaw straight away and Martinez looked composed but the error-proneness of the remaining CBs reared its ugly head again. Plus, our right back situation is scary but at least AWB has been put out to pasture.
 
  • Ten Hag is a very good coach
  • We do not have good competition for places or depth for about half the team (or the type that you want, where the players like being competition and don't just sulk if left out)
  • Dalot and Sancho I think will both be pretty key players this year
Positions where I think we are set for starters and depth:
  • CB (just sell some of the extra, Bailly and Jones and Tuanzebe)
  • LB (just sell some of the extra, Telles and Williams)
  • CAM
Positions that will need addressing soon or asap)
  • GK (de Gea probably isn't good enough overall. Heaton is definitely not a good backup) - next summer problem
  • RB (Wan Bissaka is shite and doesn't seem to bother effort wise when he's backup. Laird looks good though so might resolve itself) - next summer problem
  • Midfield 3 (Fred is good, Bruno and Eriksen are good. Can they play together as a balanced midfield though? McTominay is fine as squad player. Garner has some potential but probably needs more loans. Donny is alright at best. Getting FdJ in would mean Donny should be sold and Garner should be loaned) - probably next summer problem
  • RW (Sancho is class and can play either wing. Rashford is good for the left. When he is out, Sancho can go left. We need a left footed RW to come in on a similar level to give us the mix of options when we are rotating, covering for injuries, picking for form, making subs to change the game, etc. You need 3 top wingers to compete for places. Elanga is nowhere near good enough and doesn't have the talent to progress. Garnacho looks good but I wouldn't feel comfortable with him going in the first team just yet, maybe closer to the end of the year as part of the group, but deeper) - asap
  • ST (I have hope for Martial, if he can stay fit. I doubt his fitness more than his ability or his attitude tbh. Ronaldo as depth probably isn't good, as he just will sulk and create unrest. Martial is much better for our team overall than Ronaldo at this point) - asap
Biggest priority has to be sorting out the winger situation we have. Its pathetic depth and needs reinforcement. If we sort that out, them I'll be confident for the season. If not, we'll fall short due to our lack of options.
 
It hasn't really been a brilliant pre-season. The main takeaways would be the willingness to let the youngsters have a run out to see if they're ready to play a bigger role.

Upfront we're still going to be having issues which will be worse if we lose Ronaldo. I don't see how we're going to get a replacement in such a short time

Midfield has some bright moments but Pogba's departure, unreliable though he was, may stil be missed.

The defence is the defence. Nothing more to be said about them.

De Gea's lack of control in his box is a major worry.

All in all, it points to a rough start to the season.
 
My expectations are: top 4, winning FA cup or Europa League with playing nice and progressive football on which manager can upgrade with better players next season.
But still not pretty sure if that is achievable with this team.
 
ROFLUTION said:
I see what you did there, and Im sure Murtough will read every first letter and take action.

… or at least a plane flying over Old Trafford with the message
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I'd personally fund* a ghostrider buzzing Murtoughs house trailing a banner with "SIGN A MIDFIELDER U SHITHOUSES" in flashing neon.


*To the tune of about £3.50 cos that's as much as I can spare
 
BuzzKillington said:
I think EtH deserves credit for what he seems to have managed to do with the playing side. We look sharper, able to pass a ball and we seem to have discovered how to effectively press (at least when “the king” isn’t playing). In short we actually look like a football team with a competent manager, who are capable of playing decent football for the first time in about 8 years.

But EtH deserves the criticism for the transfer side of things. There’s no way the club have made a decision to only sign Ajax or former Ajax players, so that is on him.

We’re an injury to Fred away from not actually having a single passable senior midfielder. Our squad is ridiculously thin in certain areas. 18 year olds fresh out of the youth setup are good for experimenting with when the pressure is off. They shouldn’t be your bench and who you’re looking at to bring on and change a game when it’s not going well.
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I don't really blame ETH for the Ajax-linked transfers to be honest. To me, it highlights that once again, a manager has come into the club and presumably found, as Moyes, LvG and Jose did, that the club had virtually no suitable identified targets. Remember, even as recently as a few months ago Rangnick was saying that he asked our Scouts for the reports they held on some of the best up and coming Bundesliga talents and they hadn't even heard of some of them!

Think about the players we signed under those managers, again, most of them familiar to the manager or recommended by contacts of the manager.

Part of me (the glass-half-full part) wants to believe that the recent structural changes we have seen will ensure that this will be the last Summer that we're literally entering the market 'blind'. I'd love to think that this time next year, we'll have a list of 20-25 targets that have been thoroughly scouted and sounded-out for a move, so that come the start of the window we can move quickly and effectively without being held to ransom.

The other part, the glass-half-empty part, worries that I have been optimistic before and then been let-down!
 
Carl said:
I dont buy unto the thinking that pre season results don't matter. Good teams win football matches.

There have definitely been positive signs, but truth of the matter is this squad is nowhere near good enough. Ten Hag has been set up to fail, and he basically has to turn water into wine with a number of positions in the side.

I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm concerned, but it's not exactly filling me with confidence that haven't won in our last 3 (unless you include a behind doors game against a side not even in the football league). Especially when you consider how much further ahead we are in our preparation to the 2 Spanish sides.
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Preseason really is having too much focus put on it by fans for some reason. It’s just not competitive. We whacked Liverpool 4-0 and they haven’t been great in other games but I bet they are the team to beat this season
 
golden_blunder said:
Preseason really is having too much focus put on it by fans for some reason. It’s just not competitive. We whacked Liverpool 4-0 and they haven’t been great in other games but I bet they are the team to beat this season
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Its not the be all and end all, but I don't think they're the irrelevance that some would have you believe. Good teams win football matches. Winning also breeds confidence.

Whilst we've seen some small things to be encouraged by, we've also seen a lot of the same old stuff too. Iffy goalkeeping. Shocking against the press. Pedestrian central midfield. Massive lack of quality in the final third.

Pleased with ten Hag. None of this is directed at the appointment. But he's been setup to fail and, for me, our performances pre season have demonstrated it. Squad nowhere near good enough and not enough done to rectify it. He's another manager in the position of having to try and get a tune out of players that aren't good enough and should be moved on. If we do business between now and the end of the window then great, better late than never. He's not being given the best possible opportunity to succeed though.
 
UnitedWA said:
My expectations are: top 4, winning FA cup or Europa League with playing nice and progressive football on which manager can upgrade with better players next season.
But still not pretty sure if that is achievable with this team.
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If ETH can achieve this next season, I'd proclaim him the best manager in the world. That would be an incredible turnaround considering that we finished last season playing like relegation battlers.
6th place would be a decent achievement, especially for a manager who has not managed in the EPL or managed a big club.
I think ETH's 2nd season will be his best season and his 3rd season will be his last.
I don't see him winning any trophies in those 3 years, but I hope I am proved wrong and that my predictions are thrown back at me in a few years.
 
sunama said:
If ETH can achieve this next season, I'd proclaim him the best manager in the world. That would be an incredible turnaround considering that we finished last season playing like relegation battlers.
6th place would be a decent achievement, especially for a manager who has not managed in the EPL or managed a big club.
I think ETH's 2nd season will be his best season and his 3rd season will be his last.
I don't see him winning any trophies in those 3 years, but I hope I am proved wrong and that my predictions are thrown back at me in a few years.
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I'd back him up even if he does not achieve things I mentioned but ONLY if the football is good and progressive. Then he should get all the support he wants to finally do something big with the club.
But I am afraid if he does not get Champion's League spot, club will fire him and so far I am not sure if he got real backup from the club.
 
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