The way forward?

DubaiReds

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Reading the articles after last nights match two things seem to come through loud & clear:-
1. We must be more prepared to take a gamble on getting quality players - yeah i know Ferdi came for 30m BUT we had the chance of looking at Rivaldo but nothing happened - our PLC run the club & profits matter to them! The playing side will always suffer because of this. Real Madrid took a massive gamble some years ago when heavily in debt by investing heavily in QUALITY players & a big squad (ours is not as big as we think - Arsenal's squad has more depth than ours) now look at Real - the best in Europe easily - which is where we should be with our financial clout.
2. Where are the youngsters - none get a chance (bar O'Shea) is it because they don't have the talent - I've not been that impressed by what's been coming through - is that why Choccy has taken over the under 19's to get that area sorted as teams like Villa, Leeds & West Ham seem to have by passed us in that area.

BUT the PLC need to get its priorities right (some hope) & invest in the team more & not in their dividends - it could be beneficial long term put PLC's will never look further than their next profit margin. :mad:
 
I can't agree that spending 30m is insufficient investment. We are not and will never be a Real Madrid. They are not responsible to shareholders and are frequently bailed out by the muncipality of Madrid and even the King of bloody Spain I believe. To compare us with them in terms of investment in players is a non starter. Arsenal appear to have a better squad, but Wenger, give him his dues, does have an eye for the cheaper player. Ferguson generally doesn't. OGS and Silvestre are the only two that spring to mind and the latter wasn't cheap at the time considering his experience. I think Ferdinand is a great player and will do well for us in years to come, but I think we paid way over the odds and that 30m could have gone a lot further.
 
Well when you think about the £30m we could have got Gallas/Thuram/Rivaldo/Finnan or Bridge. I like Rio and I'm sure he'll do well for us but when you think he joined us to win things ;) How much do you think we'll get for him in 2-3 years ;)
 
Originally posted by Dans:
[QB]I can't agree that spending 30m is insufficient investment. QB]<hr></blockquote>

Agree, but it's the pattern of investment since 1999, coupled to lack of youth which troubles me. We should have bought after the Treble, but didn't (following the old Liverpool rule of investing in strength). We probably should also have sold after the Treble, but didn't (following the old Juventus rule of pruning to stay fit).

There seems to have been not enough strategic thinking about what type of team Fergie wants, how he wants them to play and who therefore is right for each role. Instead it's been pick-and-mix, an imported superstar here, an imported superstar there, and as a result the squad looks unbalanced in terms of cover and skills (i.e. pace/guile up-front), and unsure of the best way to play.

This is the sort of thing that can end up getting managers the sack.
Click to expand...
 
I'll be slated for this I'm sure, but I'd like to see changes on a big scale. An impossibility I know, but I think the team is too familiar, not only to the opposition but amongst themselves. I'd personally like to see the building of a new team around the following players over the next 2 or 3 years:

Rio
Silvestre (believe it or not ;) )
O'Shea
Beckham
Keane
RVN
OGS
 
What worries me is the question of hunger and desire keeps popping up again and again, how many times must the players desire be question before they finally kick start and get back into gear.

The start to the season has been average boarderline poor, and anyone who thinks not is severly deluding themselves. We have beaten two teams unconvincingly, draw two matches, one unfortunately as our play deserved a victory and the other through sheer waste of chances up front and somewhat of a relaxed attitude, that was really shocking to see from a Man Utd team famed for its killer spirit.

Finally a defeat to a lesser team of individuals, but on the night a better all around unit. Again chances were spurned left, right & centre and that old cliesha of last season came back to haunt us, losing points/games due to silly individual errors, the sort of errors that we saw last season against the likes of Arsenal, Deportivo, Bolton etc the list is bloody endless!!! The sort of errors that SAF, promised would not appear this season!

There are people who are going to look at what i have written and think, oh moaner, moaner, blah blah, but in my opinion anyone who doesn't think that there is a clear and present problem at OT at the moment is deceiving themselves, because there quite clearly is:

* We need a fourth striker badly!!!
* RVN needs to start scoring
* Forlan (bless him) needs to make his mark
* JSV needs to start showing his world class status on a more consistent basis
* Giggs needs to raise his game a notch
* We need one, if not both Keane & Scholes back fit
* O'Shea needs to be given more of a chance

There are probably many more problems that others may feel exist, its all down to personal opinions, but something quite clearly needs to be done.

Nonetheless we will support the team and the gaffer no matter what, without question but perhaps with trepidation as we certainly don't look like the Man Utd of yester-year!
 
Originally posted by Dans:
<strong>I'll be slated for this I'm sure, but I'd like to see changes on a big scale. An impossibility I know, but I think the team is too familiar, not only to the opposition but amongst themselves. I'd personally like to see the building of a new team around the following players over the next 2 or 3 years:

Rio
Silvestre (believe it or not ;) )
O'Shea
Beckham
Keane
RVN
OGS</strong><hr></blockquote>
Not at all, the idea that they can keep playing together until they are all 35 and still win things is silly if you ask me.
How about this as a future United line up.

Steele
Burdisso Rio O'Shea Escude
Becks Timm Van der Vaart Richardson
Ruud Ronaldinho/Duff

Some time away though.
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by Cigar:
<strong>What worries me is the question of hunger and desire keeps popping up again and again, how many times must the players desire be question before they finally kick start and get back into gear.

The start to the season has been average boarderline poor, and anyone who thinks not is severly deluding themselves. We have beaten two teams unconvincingly, draw two matches, one unfortunately as our play deserved a victory and the other through sheer waste of chances up front and somewhat of a relaxed attitude, that was really shocking to see from a Man Utd team famed for its killer spirit.

Finally a defeat to a lesser team of individuals, but on the night a better all around unit. Again chances were spurned left, right & centre and that old cliesha of last season came back to haunt us, losing points/games due to silly individual errors, the sort of errors that we saw last season against the likes of Arsenal, Deportivo, Bolton etc the list is bloody endless!!! The sort of errors that SAF, promised would not appear this season!

There are people who are going to look at what i have written and think, oh moaner, moaner, blah blah, but in my opinion anyone who doesn't think that there is a clear and present problem at OT at the moment is deceiving themselves, because there quite clearly is:

* We need a fourth striker badly!!!
* RVN needs to start scoring
* Forlan (bless him) needs to make his mark
* JSV needs to start showing his world class status on a more consistent basis
* Giggs needs to raise his game a notch
* We need one, if not both Keane & Scholes back fit
* O'Shea needs to be given more of a chance

There are probably many more problems that others may feel exist, its all down to personal opinions, but something quite clearly needs to be done.

Nonetheless we will support the team and the gaffer no matter what, without question but perhaps with trepidation as we certainly don't look like the Man Utd of yester-year!</strong><hr></blockquote>

Well said!!!!!
Click to expand...
 
Some pretty fair comments, 30m, I agree, in not an insufficient investment - but we need to be able to pick up the quality free transfers around particulalrly with the state football's in at the present time. It'll be interesting to see how Arsenal cope with their 62 million pound wage bill over the next couple of years! However, and I must ask this, was Fergie right to decide to stay on - I don't know the background to his staying on decision it has been suggested that his successor wasn't ready to come on board at this precise time - whatever but Fergie to me appears a little jaded - is it me - I hope so - we certainly don't want to see a Busby scenario of the late 60's early 70's - I lived through that once I don't want that to happen again
 
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