Unpopular Opinions Thread

[prath92]

Not all of the changes were down to LVG and I don't think he has done very well. If I recall correctly, three of the back four had gone before LVG was actually manager and many others went before he had actually started a PL game. Some elected to go when he joined like Buettner and Evra. Others jumped ship given the first opportunity like Cleverly and Welbeck. AdM and RVP represent subsequent voluntary removals along with Nani, while Chicharito appears to be in no-man's land. Presently our frontline is an ineffectual mess. For all his success at turning around Young, LVG's failures of managing/motivating players have surfaced as has happened in his previous jobs.

There remain questions about our transfer policy: such as why did we end up with Schweini and not Vidal? Who will replace the losses up front - Pedro or Bale? Thus far, after all that expenditure and team of riches, we have played some very boring footy and scraped to 4th.

If I recall LVG's record is an impact manager with strong first seasons but poorer performances in subsequent seasons. I am deeply skeptical he can do better this time around, especially on the showing during the tour, his first home game and his own record. Worse, his football is pretty tedious.

So you blame LvG for de gea wanting to go to Madrid , Di Maria s family apparently wanting Paris and valdes refusing to play in the reserves? What problems have surfaced? Most of his ex-players have praised him.

Cleverley and welbeck were let go after the preseason. They left on deadline day.

Why do you think we need Vidal now? We needed a senior #6 like Carrick and schweini is one. So you blame LvG for not buying every midfielder or player that you wanted?

We didn't scrape to fourth. We were 7 points ahead of Spurs. Arsenal were 5 points ahead of us so did they scrape to third?

In the tour we won 3 and lost one. we even beat barca. It wasn't all bad

 

[prath92]

Yeah i am really tired of reading that we spend a huge amount of money and we are not much better. We spend less then 200m net while, replaced almost whole first team and went from 7th to 4th.
I would agree with this comments that we should improve better if we would spend 200m on few great players which we would added to to strong core of the squad like for example Mourinho did, but we didn't have a core, every important player bar Rooney since our last tittle win needed a replacement.

The worst thing is people don't count Herrera and Shaw as LvG signings but include their fees in money spent by him

 

[Moonred]

Yeah i am really tired of reading that we spend a huge amount of money and we are not much better. We spend less then 200m net while, replaced almost whole first team and went from 7th to 4th.
I would agree with this comments that we should improve better if we would spend 200m on few great players which we would added to to strong core of the squad like for example Mourinho did, but we didn't have a core, every important player bar Rooney since our last tittle win needed a replacement.

A lot of people see it the way you do.

 

[Crackers]

Chicharito would do better in the current setup than Rooney.

 

[Name Changed]

Rooney is nowhere near good enough anymore. Nowhere near.

 

[Macern]

Rooney is nowhere near good enough anymore. Nowhere near.

Give him time. He has always needed to play himself into form.

 

[Witchking]

Rooney is nowhere near good enough anymore. Nowhere near.

Completely agree. I would have preferred Van Persie to stay and Rooney to be sold off. Has a pathetic first touch and doesn't have to skill to take players on anymore.

 

[Cassidy]

Give him time. He has always needed to play himself into form.

Which is half the problem, top level players need to be able to turn in on tbh

 

[Jerch]

A lot of people see it the way you do.

Well i am a little anoyed about all the negativity especially towards Van Gaal on this forum. Since we are in unpopular opinions thread i think defending our manager who is doing, at least i think so, a great job at buiding a squad that will be bring us success back in the future.
We now have strong core of the squad which need just one or two great players (plus GK if we sell DDG) to be serious contender for the trophies in England and Europe and we did this in two transfer window and we cut down our wages while doing that.

It is funny how Liverpool fans are smacking down LVG that he spent a huge amount of money and we still need players to challenge for the trophies while they spent similar amount of money and loosing only trhee important players in the last two season and not whole core and they still have much much worse squad.

 

[Stretford End Phil]

The fact is everyone of those players needed a replacement. And to be fair Buttner, Evra and Ferdinand were let go by LVG and you only can argue Eva could stay for one more season. Only Vidic decided to go before LVG came.
And with Cleverley and Welbeck the were sold or send on loan because they wanted first team football and LVG told them they won't get it. Welbeck went to Arsenal and will be bench warmer there, Cleverley went to lesser team like Aston Villa and now Everton.
I don't think LVG is a poor man manager but when you look for negativity why not throw that into also....


Who will we bring upront we will see but about Vidal vs. Schweinsteiger, that is manager decision which i agree with. We need a leader, a player with a lot of experience and Schweinsteiger is the right man for than. As good as Vidal is he doesn't have same amout of experience than Schweinteiger.


All we can do is wait and see what happens but you are not right at that one. This was the case with Bayern but he was successful with Ajax, Barcelona and Alkmaar. Saying that his second spell with Barcelona wnt terible wrong in his first season already.
Again searching negatiivity....

If you want positivity I suggest this thread is not for you as it's about unpopular opinions.

Evra was a loss as his subsequent form proved. Last season we lost a defence but ended up with celeb players who in the end brought nothing but the loss of money. If you think Schweini is the answer I would suggest you look at his record over the last three seasons. His former manager at Bayern was given the soft option of selling him to us rather than the painful unpopular decision of dropping him this season.

LVG is an impact manager and his impact was a poor fourth. I expect nothing this season even if he buys Bale and Renaldo. His bullshit about philosophies and players changes with the weather. His football is has been tedious and shows no change after yet more buying. We have gone from an unbalanced side of his making to a top heavy midfield squad of his making. LVG has proven better than Moyes, but only by a few places and that's not good enough.

 

[Cassidy]

Liverpool have a shot at top 4

 

[Dé jonge god]

Chicharito would do better in the current setup than Rooney.

I agree. I was going to make a post about it but you beat me to the punch.

 

[Crackers]

I agree. I was going to make a post about it but you beat me to the punch.

He's a natural poacher, and I imagine he'd be a lot more disciplined in his positioning.

 

[Jerch]

If you want positivity I suggest this thread is not for you as it's about unpopular opinions.

I think positivity is quite unpopular in this forum.

Evra was a loss as his subsequent form proved. Last season we lost a defence but ended up with celeb players who in the end brought nothing but the loss of money. If you think Schweini is the answer I would suggest you look at his record over the last three seasons. His former manager at Bayern was given the soft option of selling him to us rather than the painful unpopular decision of dropping him this season.

We bought 5 players last season and loaned in 1. Falcao didn't succed but noone could predict that, Di Maria had his impact and i don't think the loss is to big. And Di Maria is as quilty it didn't worked out as is LVG. 4 out of 5 players we bought look like a good buy, 3 of them played yesterday. We did well i think. Look for eample at Liverpool how many of the Moreno, Balotelli, Origi, Lallana, Marković, Lovren or Can play today for them...

LVG is an impact manager and his impact was a poor fourth. I expect nothing this season even if he buys Bale and Renaldo. His bullshit about philosophies and players changes with the weather. His football is has been tedious and shows no change after yet more buying. We have gone from an unbalanced side of his making to a top heavy midfield squad of his making. LVG has proven better than Moyes, but only by a few places and that's not good enough.

Again he is not. He was at Alkmaar for 4 seasons and slowly improving them so they were the chamipons at the end, he was at Barca for 3 seasons winning making them a champions. He was chamipon with Bayern too. He is not the only reason it didn't worked out for him with Bayern or with Barcelona in his second spell.

I don't know why you think it will all go only down in this second season. We have a stronger squad then last season, we will probably bring in a few players more and we won our first game, we didn't in our first three matches last season so we are on to a lot better start.

I get you don't like LVG but at least give him opportunity, he didn't do much wrong to date.
And if you want to go with the thread name, look around the forum, there are 4 threads where people only criticize LVG on the first page of football forum, and the criticism doesn't stop there, i bet that in 3/4 threads in the football forum there is at least one comment with critics about LVG on the last page. It is quite a popular thing at the moment.

 

[RedMilo]

Yeah i am really tired of reading that we spend a huge amount of money and we are not much better. We spend less then 200m net while, replaced almost whole first team and went from 7th to 4th.
I would agree with this comments that we should improve better if we would spend 200m on few great players which we would added to to strong core of the squad like for example Mourinho did, but we didn't have a core, every important player bar Rooney since our last tittle win needed a replacement.

You miss the point, ineffectual players such as Blind, Fellaini & Mata have been bought for nearly £75m and none of them have improved 'the core' of our team, we have been crying out for an experienced centre half for two seasons now and he has had 3 transfer windows to address it and he hasnt addressed it. Mourinho first time round already had Terry & Lampard but added Cech & Drogba completing his core. LVG already had Rooney, De Gea & to a lesser extent Carrick, so he is in no worser position than Mourinho was. When Fergie took charge they had in my opinion the best centre half we have ever had in Paul McGrath but what did Fergie do he replaced him with arguably our best centre back partnership in Bruce & Pallister, when Robson who carried our team on his broad shoulders for many years was getting to a certain age, he bought Ince & then Keane again there are numerous examples about how successful managers have built great teams, this doesnt feel like it at all, does it to you? In my opinion, our transfer strategy is a mess and we are playing a brand of football thats unattractive to watch, unfortunately at MUFC winning is not enough, we are great entertainers and rightly so as fans pay a lot of money for LVG, Woodward etc to go and throw £m's at average players.

 

[PickledRed]

All human beings not just football fans. It's memetics.

I wanted to respond to that yesterday, it's true and it's natural. We are living together, it's impossible to not be heavily influenced by others opinions.

I agree, but I'm more pointing out the unthinking way opinions are expressed. Lazy remarks about issues that are often complex or actually very different to what people perceive.

 

[Stretford End Phil]

I think positivity is quite unpopular in this forum.


We bought 5 players last season and loaned in 1. Falcao didn't succed but noone could predict that, Di Maria had his impact and i don't think the loss is to big. And Di Maria is as quilty it didn't worked out as is LVG. 4 out of 5 players we bought look like a good buy, 3 of them played yesterday. We did well i think. Look for eample at Liverpool how many of the Moreno, Balotelli, Origi, Lallana, Marković, Lovren or Can play today for them...


Again he is not. He was at Alkmaar for 4 seasons and slowly improving them so they were the chamipons at the end, he was at Barca for 3 seasons winning making them a champions. He was chamipon with Bayern too. He is not the only reason it didn't worked out for him with Bayern or with Barcelona in his second spell.

I don't know why you think it will all go only down in this second season. We have a stronger squad then last season, we will probably bring in a few players more and we won our first game, we didn't in our first three matches last season so we are on to a lot better start.

I get you don't like LVG but at least give him opportunity, he didn't do much wrong to date.
And if you want to go with the thread name, look around the forum, there are 4 threads where people only criticize LVG on the first page of football forum, and the criticism doesn't stop there, i bet that in 3/4 threads in the football forum there is at least one comment with critics about LVG on the last page. It is quite a popular thing at the moment.

My opinion of LVG hasn't changed since he joined Bayern when I regularly watched his antics. I was opposed to him joining us and remain a critic of his football.

It's not a stronger squad it just happens to have more midfielders, which we were desperately short. We shall see how strong this squad proves once we get into the harder stages of the season. I remain skeptical after that performance against lightweight Spurs.

He doesnt motivate his players which is why there were so many problems last season especially with players he brought in. It's easy to predict why players like Falcoa failed when you don't play them properly or impose inappropriate changes and then wonder why the player wasn't that good. Telling the press how poor a player is does not represent sound leadership. Rooney was never a midfielder but thanks to LVG he's not really a striker anymore.

LVG is a great *********** of football but like many teachers has difficulty in making them work in practice. His promises proved shallow time and time again. He's been a good transition from Moyes but it's time to move forward with a progressive manager.

 

[JPRouve]

I agree, but I'm more pointing out the unthinking way opinions are expressed. Lazy remarks about issues that are often complex or actually very different to what people perceive.

Yeah, we tend to over simplify things because an inaccurate narrative is in place, for example the way we judge other leagues.

 

[Stretford End Phil]

You miss the point, ineffectual players such as Blind, Fellaini & Mata have been bought for nearly £75m and none of them have improved 'the core' of our team, we have been crying out for an experienced centre half for two seasons now and he has had 3 transfer windows to address it and he hasnt addressed it. Mourinho first time round already had Terry & Lampard but added Cech & Drogba completing his core. LVG already had Rooney, De Gea & to a lesser extent Carrick, so he is in no worser position than Mourinho was. When Fergie took charge they had in my opinion the best centre half we have ever had in Paul McGrath but what did Fergie do he replaced him with arguably our best centre back partnership in Bruce & Pallister, when Robson who carried our team on his broad shoulders for many years was getting to a certain age, he bought Ince & then Keane again there are numerous examples about how successful managers have built great teams, this doesnt feel like it at all, does it to you? In my opinion, our transfer strategy is a mess and we are playing a brand of football thats unattractive to watch, unfortunately at MUFC winning is not enough, we are great entertainers and rightly so as fans pay a lot of money for LVG, Woodward etc to go and throw £m's at average players.

Great observations, especially about the past. Interesting how Chelsea have been built on a strong defence and midfield. We've been all over the place without a serious strategy of rebuilding a spine to replace Rio and co. Chucking money at forwards like AdM hasn't worked nor has packing the midfield. Schweini is not the next Robson or Ince - his poor fitness will prove that. Our transfer policy this summer began well and has since been derailed. We are going into a new season still incomplete and this may well prove a disaster.

 

[Jerch]

@RedMilo so LVG is quilty of buying Mata and Fellaini? That is whole new level of the negativity towards LVG. And while i agree he that they were overpriced, one because Moyes have no balls and didn't want him to be his first buy the other because we bought two times from rival club their two times best player, they played important part in our best performing team last season. Blind is a great player for the money we paid.

You are saying that we didn't bought striker in but tell me who was available? Arsenal are looking for a good striker since RVP left them and they still didn't get one. We bought in Falcao last season, he had a potential to be the solution to this problem but he failed, you know similar like Veron failed under SAF....
This trasfer window is still open for almost a month and we can still bring in new striker you never know.

And yes i think LVG is building a great team. Bar Schweinsteiger all the player we bought are young and can offer many seasons to us. And when LVG came in it was too late to build a team like you describing SAF did it, SAF could do it in his last few seasons but he didn't.

 

[Jerch]

My opinion of LVG hasn't changed since he joined Bayern when I regularly watched his antics. I was opposed to him joining us and remain a critic of his football.

It's not a stronger squad it just happens to have more midfielders, which we were desperately short. We shall see how strong this squad proves once we get into the harder stages of the season. I remain skeptical after that performance against lightweight Spurs.

He doesnt motivate his players which is why there were so many problems last season especially with players he brought in. It's easy to predict why players like Falcoa failed when you don't play them properly or impose inappropriate changes and then wonder why the player wasn't that good. Telling the press how poor a player is does not represent sound leadership. Rooney was never a midfielder but thanks to LVG he's not really a striker anymore.

LVG is a great *********** of football but like many teachers has difficulty in making them work in practice. His promises proved shallow time and time again. He's been a good transition from Moyes but it's time to move forward with a progressive manager.

There are so many things i disagree with that it is not worth a try. Lets agree to disagree.

 

[Name Changed]

Liverpool have a shot at top 4

Absolutely.

 

[JonDahl]

Mata's creativity is tremendously overrated. He brings very little to the team when we have to actually break down defences.

 

[SteveJ]

Liverpool have a shot at top 4

It'll probably end up in the stand.

 

[JPRouve]

Mata's creativity is tremendously overrated. He brings very little to the team when we have to actually break down defences.

I think that it's the lack of good movement around him and his current position. Last season he created 50 chances, Hazard created 100. But in 2012/2013 Mata created 95 chances.
Like Jean michel Larqué says, the passer is tributary to the runs, no quality runs are the direct consequence to our overall lack of chances.

 

[Cassidy]

I think that it's the lack of good movement around him and his current position. Last season he created 50 chances, Hazard created 100. But in 2012/2013 Mata created 95 chances.
Like Jean michel Larqué says, the passer is tributary to the runs, no quality runs are the direct consequence to our overall lack of chances.

I agree

 

[RedMilo]

@RedMilo so LVG is quilty of buying Mata and Fellaini? That is whole new level of the negativity towards LVG. And while i agree he that they were overpriced, one because Moyes have no balls and didn't want him to be his first buy the other because we bought two times from rival club their two times best player, they played important part in our best performing team last season. Blind is a great player for the money we paid.

You are saying that we didn't bought striker in but tell me who was available? Arsenal are looking for a good striker since RVP left them and they still didn't get one. We bought in Falcao last season, he had a potential to be the solution to this problem but he failed, you know similar like Veron failed under SAF....
This trasfer window is still open for almost a month and we can still bring in new striker you never know.

And yes i think LVG is building a great team. Bar Schweinsteiger all the player we bought are young and can offer many seasons to us. And when LVG came in it was too late to build a team like you describing SAF did it, SAF could do it in his last few seasons but he didn't.

I totally disagree with everything you have said. Blind and great player should not be used in the same sentence. You claim I say we havent bought a striker, but I havent mentioned buying a striker once, please read my post again. Falcao didnt work in LVG's system, I suspect it may have been different if we still played under Fergie but also may be down to his injury. There is no great team being built with no experienced centre back, possibly no great goalkeeper and no attacking players of quality to support Rooney, its a mess, we are so far behind our rivals.

 

[RedMilo]

Absolutely.

Its not even funny, if we lose De Gea and dont replace him with quality & an experienced CB then Liverpool & Spurs have a genuine chance of finishing above us.

 

[Speak]

I think that it's the lack of good movement around him and his current position. Last season he created 50 chances, Hazard created 100. But in 2012/2013 Mata created 95 chances.
Like Jean michel Larqué says, the passer is tributary to the runs, no quality runs are the direct consequence to our overall lack of chances.

Creation of chances isn't all it boils down to. Iniesta is more creative, but probably creates fewer chances directly. Herera too. Probably Isco too.
Mata also takes set pieces.

There's not a huge deal of imagination in his play. He's effective when the defence has been stretched, but at cutting through a defence himself? Not really. He's incredibly safe and quite limited once he's pressurised.

Put Silva in the team instead, or Isco, or even Pjanic, and you'll get fewer assists from them, but a whole lot more creativity in their game. They'd be assisting the assist more. Which is often the hardest part. Whereas sliding it across goal for a tap in is easier and takes less creativity.

 

[Stretford End Phil]

There are so many things i disagree with that it is not worth a try. Lets agree to disagree.

Yes, agreed to disagree.

 

[prath92]

You miss the point, ineffectual players such as Blind, Fellaini & Mata have been bought for nearly £75m and none of them have improved 'the core' of our team, we have been crying out for an experienced centre half for two seasons now and he has had 3 transfer windows to address it and he hasnt addressed it. Mourinho first time round already had Terry & Lampard but added Cech & Drogba completing his core. LVG already had Rooney, De Gea & to a lesser extent Carrick, so he is in no worser position than Mourinho was. When Fergie took charge they had in my opinion the best centre half we have ever had in Paul McGrath but what did Fergie do he replaced him with arguably our best centre back partnership in Bruce & Pallister, when Robson who carried our team on his broad shoulders for many years was getting to a certain age, he bought Ince & then Keane again there are numerous examples about how successful managers have built great teams, this doesnt feel like it at all, does it to you? In my opinion, our transfer strategy is a mess and we are playing a brand of football thats unattractive to watch, unfortunately at MUFC winning is not enough, we are great entertainers and rightly so as fans pay a lot of money for LVG, Woodward etc to go and throw £m's at average players.

Haha what crap.

1. Fellaini and Mata weren't his signings. All others he has signed did reasonably well (falcao aside). None of them are 'average' too. Unless you compare them to Messi or Pele

2. Mourinho bought only Cech and drogba as core ? How about carvalho? Robben? Ferreira ? He had makalele in the team. Glen Johnson in the team. Wayne bridge in the team. All of them were a core part and were either bought just the year before or bought that year. Mourinho took over a side that finished second (ahead of us too) and made them champions and you think LvG had a similar situation to that?

3. I wasn't around during fergies first 5-6 years but I have heard he was a whisker away from getting sacked in his 4th year or so. Meaning he took at least 4 years to rebuild and create a successful team.

4. LvG is paid to get results. And he gets it. His first objective was CL qualification and he achieved it.

5. Who in your opinion is this 'experienced centre back ' that is both attainable and would be good for us? Like honestly? Otamendi is like the only good defender but he isn't really experienced enough. He was benched at Porto by Mangala for instance. Plus he will cost us £35m so we have to ensure that he is the real deal. We may buy him but we really need to double check. Arsenal have needed a CB since god knows when and they haveny gone any better than Gabriel and Calum chambers. It's because no right defender is available.

 

[Stretford End Phil]

I totally disagree with everything you have said. Blind and great player should not be used in the same sentence. You claim I say we havent bought a striker, but I havent mentioned buying a striker once, please read my post again. Falcao didnt work in LVG's system, I suspect it may have been different if we still played under Fergie but also may be down to his injury. There is no great team being built with no experienced centre back, possibly no great goalkeeper and no attacking players of quality to support Rooney, its a mess, we are so far behind our rivals.

Agree with you and it showed yesterday how pointless we have become as an attacking force - at ho e!

Its not even funny, if we lose De Gea and dont replace him with quality & an experienced CB then Liverpool & Spurs have a genuine chance of finishing above us.

Spurs lack thrust and it showed yesterday. The Scousers are a potential threat, Dodgers will be looking for payback from his investments. My real concern is how far we stand from Chesea and City. Both have strength in depth, we are lighter in numbers and quality.

 

[Manchie]

1. LVG is overrated but still he is great manager
2. LVG has bad man managment.

I don't know if they are fact or opinion though

 

[JPRouve]

Creation of chances isn't all it boils down to. Iniesta is more creative, but probably creates fewer chances directly. Herera too. Probably Isco too.
Mata also takes set pieces.

There's not a huge deal of imagination in his play. He's effective when the defence has been stretched, but at cutting through a defence himself? Not really. He's incredibly safe and quite limited once he's pressurised.

Put Silva in the team instead, or Isco, or even Pjanic, and you'll get fewer assists from them, but a whole lot more creativity in their game. They'd be assisting the assist more. Which is often the hardest part. Whereas sliding it across goal for a tap in is easier and takes less creativity.

You are right, and I might be wrong but what people are criticizing Mata for, is the lack of opportunities that he 'exploits'. Because if people expects him to create chances out of nothing by dribbling, eliminating opponents then they are after the wrong player. Mata is a passer-goalscorer, he exploits other players runs and he is great at it.

 

[LilRicky]

Oh dear it would help if people actually read the post. It stated 'OTHER THAN THE CENTRAL MIDFIELD' and then you start banging on about cleverley and fletcher. There was 2 points to my post, firstly we have spent over £200m and we are not closer to the title, as an example Chelsea when Abramovich first arrived spent less money than we have over the last 2 seasons and they started making good signings, we are on the other hand being took to the cleaners everytime we enter the transfer market and overpaying on players that are just not making enough of a difference to our chances, you mention patience but do you really think the Glazers will allow the club to spend £200m + every few years, what have to get it right now and I cant see the progress. Did we look much better than Spurs yesterday?
Secondly, I dont buy into the LVG philosophy, its far too structured and difficult to watch. It lacks fluidity, expression and penetration, three things that are synonymous with MUFC certainly under Fergie in my time but also under Busby as well, its not coincidence that this brand of football was played in our two most successful era's of our great club and LVG has abandoned it. As an example we have two wide players that cut inside and offer nothing else and we have no pace or interchanging up front, its not a team I enjoy watching and it kills me to say that after nearly 35 years as an ardent supporter, it really pisses me off.
Finally, I would say this the unpopular opinion thread, so dont expect everyone to agree with me, thats kind of the point of the thread lol....

Closer to a title? Not quite there yet, but not too far either.

It takes time and money to build a team. I find it funny you mention Chelsea. Of all teams, they who have spent more money on transfers than any other team in the league. It's funny also because United are running a very similar path to Chelsea but a year behind them.

Jose Mourinho took over Chelsea for a 2nd stint in 2013, since that date Jose has:

Spent: £224.2m on transfers on 22 players
Sold: £196.85m received on 49 players
Net Spend: £27.35

Similarly Louis Van Gaal
Spent: £221.6 on transfer for 13 players
Sold: £96.55 on transfers for 27 players
Net Spend: £125.05

Chelsea won their first league title in 5 years in case you missed it, this after they spend over £200m. United's transfer business pre Van Gaal was absolutely shambolic, Fergie and Gill left the club in an awful mess with really poor players on bumper wages (Cleverly, Nani, Anderson, Fletcher etc etc). Any incoming manager had the unenviable / thankless task of sorting that mess out. People wonder why we've had to accept pennies on the likes of the players I've named? It's because no club wants to fork out £100k approx for their wages so we have to accept lower transfer fee's and hope the player will take a reduction in wage, Anderson one of the worst offenders refused to transfer last summer.

Last summers business was done under a tight time scale, he arrived late and had to make quick fire decisions on transfers like Herrera and Shaw without truly assessing them, then had to delve into the market and buy players quickly with what little time was left. The only player that has really flopped is Di Maria. Falcao didn't work out but logically speaking he most definitely was a risk worth taking considering it was a loan deal.

Your problem in a nutshell is that you have never seen United going through a rebuilding phase and can't relate to it, many United fans haven't as we had the same manager for the guts of 3 decades. Not just any manager but the greatest manager in the history of the game. The man (LVG) has had 1 season in charge and your spouting out nonsense of league titles? Shall I compare LVG's one season to Jose's first season Back at Chelsea in 2013-14?

Chelsea: 3rd - 2013/14
P38 W25 D7 L6 GF71 GA27 GD+44 82Pts

United: 4th - 2014/15
P38 W20 D10 L8 GF62 GA37 GD+25 70Pts

Considering it was Jose's 2nd stint in the league and he had a full transfer window from the get go unlike LVG had last summer, I'd suggest LVG done a damn good job taking into account the scale of the rebuilding that is going on.

You mention about the Glazers spending £200m every summer, that won't happen. It's happening now because its the start of the rebuilding, once the squad foundation is laid down you shall see a reduction in the quantity spent and receiving and players coming and going will reduce. We basically will be at a stage where tweaking the squad is all that is necessary.

Secondly, Synonymous? LVG has his own ideas of football and we should respect them, even if its not fully to our liking. Will he be successful at the club before he retires? Most definitely. If we don't win something this year we shall next year. LVG is a stubborn old boot who at 64 is not likely to change now when he is 2 years from retirement. So you may as well give up on that one. His team selections can be puzzling sometimes but we are still in the mix and the teams around us still fear and respect us as they know on our day we can beat them.

Given time he shall lay the foundations for this team (nearly there now) and the beautiful attacking football he created with Ajax, Barca and Bayern will be on display soon enough

 

[JonDahl]

I think that it's the lack of good movement around him and his current position. Last season he created 50 chances, Hazard created 100. But in 2012/2013 Mata created 95 chances.
Like Jean michel Larqué says, the passer is tributary to the runs, no quality runs are the direct consequence to our overall lack of chances.

In 2012/2013 he played under Di Matteo, who set up Chelsea to purely counter attack, and once he got sacked, under Benitez, who also set Chelsea up for counter attacks. He was getting the space to work his thing because he had 6 players playing on the edge of their area and he was left to do whatever he wanted with the other 3 players. We don't play to allow teams onto us, to hit them on the break, we try and control the game. Mata has never flourished when he's played in a team that has most of the possession and have to break defences down. There's a reason why he hardly ever gets a game for Spain.

 

[prath92]

My opinion of LVG hasn't changed since he joined Bayern when I regularly watched his antics. I was opposed to him joining us and remain a critic of his football.

It's not a stronger squad it just happens to have more midfielders, which we were desperately short. We shall see how strong this squad proves once we get into the harder stages of the season. I remain skeptical after that performance against lightweight Spurs.

He doesnt motivate his players which is why there were so many problems last season especially with players he brought in. It's easy to predict why players like Falcoa failed when you don't play them properly or impose inappropriate changes and then wonder why the player wasn't that good. Telling the press how poor a player is does not represent sound leadership. Rooney was never a midfielder but thanks to LVG he's not really a striker anymore.

LVG is a great *********** of football but like many teachers has difficulty in making them work in practice. His promises proved shallow time and time again. He's been a good transition from Moyes but it's time to move forward with a progressive manager.

You don't think our squad is stronger than When LvG took over? That's really funny.

Oh I see you also blame the manager for falcao not playing well. And LvG is the reason Rooney isn't a good striker when 90% of the Rooney comments here is how sir Alex was right to try sell him as he is on the fall?

Its not even funny, if we lose De Gea and dont replace him with quality & an experienced CB then Liverpool & Spurs have a genuine chance of finishing above us.

Yeah if all our players left and we replaced them with nobodies then we are so screwed.

 

[pacifictheme]

Ander Herrera is not all that. The Cafs love afair with him is bizarre.

 

[Speak]

You are right, and I might be wrong but what people are criticizing Mata for, is the lack of opportunities that he 'exploits'. Because if people expects him to create chances out of nothing by dribbling, eliminating opponents then they are after the wrong player. Mata is a passer-goalscorer, he exploits other players runs and he is great at it.

I don't even think people care so much that Mata doesn't directly assist enough. It's the fact that almost every time the ball goes to him, you know he'll be unable to turn his man, dribble his man, hold the ball for long, try something different. He'll control it beautifully and then play the way he's facing, unless he has time and space.

You say that he needs runs to be effective. But when you suffocate teams and pass slowly as a team, there's a limit to how many runs you can make.
This is where a truly creative player is needed - one who can turn his man, go round his man, create angles, hold the ball, create two-on-ones and superiority in numbers, and invite runners.

Mata can't do that, and that's why he's not good enough, ultimately. In a possession game, you aren't given time/space to make loads of runs or to pick loads of passes. You have to create that time and space for yourself in those congested areas.

 

[Steven Seagull]

Ander Herrera is not all that. The Cafs love afair with him is bizarre.

How do you think the Caf perceives him? I thought the general consensus was he's a very good player who generally improves our play when he's in the team. Which is true.