Who is our deadwood now then?

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We don't know that until we hit a purple patch. Thing is, with a good coach every bad player can be useful and with a bad coach every good player can be a dead wood.
 
Jones
DVB
Argument for CR7?

That’s it, that’s my list. Pretty impressive to be fair.
 
Fred
AWB
Phillip
VDB
Dalot

All need to be replaced this Jan/summer.
Kind of weird to list Dalot in there when he's performed excellently and he is only 23. What do people have against the guy? He's likely our long term starting RB at this point.
 
It's weird that we still have a lot of players who could leave without it impacting us too much. Despite having quite a few outgoings this summer. We could conceivably have another big churn of players over the next twelve months.

OUT
De Gea
Henderson
AWB
Maguire/Lindelof
Bailly
Jones
Tuanzabe
Telles
Williams
VDB
Ronaldo
Martial?

Leaving us with about another five to sign:

New GK, Dubravka, Heaton
Dalot, Laird(New RB)
Varane, Martinez, Maguire/Lindelof, Timber(NewCB)
Malacia, Shaw
Casemiro, Mctominay, Eriksen, FDJ (New CM), Fred, Bruno
Rashford, Sancho, Anthony, Elanga, New Striker, Martial?

Pretty much agree with that list. Maybe Elanga is not good enough, we have Amad on our books as well and it seems he doesn't have enough in him to become a reliable squad player.

I'd be patient on Dubravka as he is an ETH choice and is more of a sweeper keeper, would give him a chance.

I am still not certain on Dalot, Shaw and Rashford, although they aren't on deadwood list but aren't very far away from it. Yes, I know Dalot and Rashford are in great form, but it has been temporary. So still wanting to see more consistency from their side to rule them out of deadwood list.
 
Players who will likely find their way out of the club by the end of season 23/24 (so between January 2023, summer 2023 and January 2024 and then contract expirations summer 2024):
  • Bailly
  • Telles
  • De Gea
  • Henderson
  • Heaton
  • Wan Bissaka
  • Jones
  • Tuanzebe
  • Williams
  • Maguire (my guess)
  • Van de Beek
  • Pellistri
  • Ronaldo
Obviously of these, the only players with actual roles are Ronaldo, Maguire, van de beek and de Gea, and even there the first 3 are backups.

We'll need a new GK, a new ST, and probably bring in a CB long term replacement for Varane to replace Maguire as the 3rd choice. The rest of the signings would probably require selling someone else (like a new midfielder in would probably need Fred sold).
 
Jones feels like Fred the Red at this point no way are we getting shot of him any time soon

Amad and Pelestri so far have been odd signings as neither was overly cheap if I recall but keep being sent on loan surely they could have had some Europa involvement?

The fact DVB ex manager is reluctant to use him says a lot

Maguire needs to go he just adds too much nervousness, is slow and often caught out of position. if we can afford to let him try and get back to form in the Europa it should be last chance saloon, certainly should no longer be captain. Shame world cup isn't in the summer as he may have wanted to move in January should he correctly stay benched. Need better back up to glass Varane as atm it's a big drop in quality

AWB is at risk atm, need ATH to significantly improve him going forward. People built up Laird a lot but he's yet to be given an opportunity is he better than AWB?

Henderson - bad Apple given he's moaning about us while still employed by us. Yes Ole may have made false promises but he's not good enough to mouth off like that

Forgot Telles yeah bye
 
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Greenwood (I see he's still on the website) makes me absolutely weep, we've effectively lost an at least 80m player for free.

IF he's proven guilty, will we get some sort of compensation out of insurance etc? IF he's innocent would we even want him to play for us?

Had none of this happened (I know if guilty it's his own fault) he'd probably be a guaranteed starter and coupled with ETH coaching...

It'll be a hard one for the club to decide should he not be guilty.
 
I think to qualify as deadwood you have to offer next to no utility, and have little prospect of improvement. On those grounds, Jones and Bailly are probably the two who qualify.

The list we really need to look at are players who are good enough to perform a role in the squad but whose contribution doesn't match what we're paying them. There are probably 10 players in that category, to varying extents.
 
Ronaldo, Telles, Bailly and Jones first and most. I think Tuanzebe and Williams could be decent squad options if used correctly, even though it's probably best to sell them.
 
Surprised Shaw hasn't been mentioned more. The guy is a dud. Shows up every single season completely out of shape. Needs a whole pre-season and around 1-2 months of regular football to even look remotely fit. Sorry, but if I can keep myself in shape for free, you should be able to do that as a bare minimum requirement, being a professional footballer.

On top of that, we've seen very little improvement. Yes, he had that one good season, out of what, eight? I wouldn't even say he was much better that season he had for Southampton when we originally bought him, but at least he was showing some good signs back then. Then you got his quotes about England and United. The guy just reeks of bad attitude.
 
So based on this pre-season, who do we really consider deadwood our real deadwood? Who will struggle to earn a place in the first team squad on regular basis and should be offloaded?

My thoughts...

Telles
Amad
Bailly
Jones
Chong
Tuanzebe
Williams

No players there who will earn us a lot of money.. I reckon if we do want to still make some money we should aim to exit someone like Lindelof (and keep Bailly/Tuanzebe as backup) or AWB (and keep Williams as backup or just trust Laird for it)
I would add Martial to that list; he may not be "deadwood" at this moment in time, but it wont be long before his performances slump and/or he gets injured again. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, but I doubt it.
 
Jones, Maguire, Shaw.

I'd take out a loan if it meant it helps the club get rid.
 
It's like we think that giving out high wages makes the players better. Realistically, almost all of our current team could be replaced by a player equally good on lower wages. I'm glad that we at least refuse to offer Pogba an increase.

So you think we are unique? Just look at RM and Barca. Many EPL top clubs have similar problem, because players are not stupid and agents doing their job. Want me to renew contract, double my wage or else. Unless you think you can retain a 25 years old player for another 4 seasons at 60K
 
Alex Telles, Bailly, Jones, Tuanzabe, Williams, Wan Bissaka, Van de Beek. We still got plenty, dont worry.
 
There's a lot of deadwood probably at all levels. With the first team being so badly in need of overhaul it's a fair assumption that the pipeline needs overhaul as well. He's going to be wielding the axe for the next couple years with the kids as he realigns the way they train and what they look for.
 
Surprised Shaw hasn't been mentioned more. The guy is a dud. Shows up every single season completely out of shape. Needs a whole pre-season and around 1-2 months of regular football to even look remotely fit. Sorry, but if I can keep myself in shape for free, you should be able to do that as a bare minimum requirement, being a professional footballer.

On top of that, we've seen very little improvement. Yes, he had that one good season, out of what, eight? I wouldn't even say he was much better that season he had for Southampton when we originally bought him, but at least he was showing some good signs back then. Then you got his quotes about England and United. The guy just reeks of bad attitude.

1000% agree. Dude is burnt toast against every (below) average winger he faces.
 
Surprised Shaw hasn't been mentioned more. The guy is a dud. Shows up every single season completely out of shape. Needs a whole pre-season and around 1-2 months of regular football to even look remotely fit. Sorry, but if I can keep myself in shape for free, you should be able to do that as a bare minimum requirement, being a professional footballer.

On top of that, we've seen very little improvement. Yes, he had that one good season, out of what, eight? I wouldn't even say he was much better that season he had for Southampton when we originally bought him, but at least he was showing some good signs back then. Then you got his quotes about England and United. The guy just reeks of bad attitude.

100% - It doesn’t get discussed enough tbh
 
So you think we are unique? Just look at RM and Barca. Many EPL top clubs have similar problem, because players are not stupid and agents doing their job. Want me to renew contract, double my wage or else. Unless you think you can retain a 25 years old player for another 4 seasons at 60K

I think we are unique. Barca is the only club that's worse at it than us. As far as England goes, we have one of the highest wage bills despite not having the best player in a single position. We give good players the pay of great ones and when they fail, noone I stupid enough to take them at the same money. Pogba being the best example
 
Greenwood (I see he's still on the website) makes me absolutely weep, we've effectively lost an at least 80m player for free.

IF he's proven guilty, will we get some sort of compensation out of insurance etc? IF he's innocent would we even want him to play for us?

Had none of this happened (I know if guilty it's his own fault) he'd probably be a guaranteed starter and coupled with ETH coaching...

It'll be a hard one for the club to decide should he not be guilty.
We wouldn’t have spent 100m on Antony, oh well, its all water under the bridge now.
 
Alex Telles, Bailly, Jones, Tuanzabe, Williams, Wan Bissaka, Heaton. Are all deadwood we need to get ríd off.
It surprised me that on transfer window people wanted to add Memphis to our amazingly big list of deadwood.
 
So you think we are unique? Just look at RM
We don’t pay extraordinary wages that are not commiserate with the performance level. If a player can’t be sold, it’s because we bought him for too high a price and don’t want to sell for a loss.
The only exceptions in the last 13 years are Mariano, Hazard and Bale out of whom the decision to give Mariano a high wage contract would seem strange. The other 2 are just hindsight.
 
How did DvB become a new Phill Jones? Like he wasn't even on the squad today, for feck's sake. EtH would rather rotate Bruno and Eriksen than give DvB a chance? That kid is beyond done. And this coming from a manager that made him at Ajax. Shocking really. What happened to Donny? Why has he declined so much?
 
How did DvB become a new Phill Jones? Like he wasn't even on the squad today, for feck's sake. EtH would rather rotate Bruno and Eriksen than give DvB a chance? That kid is beyond done. And this coming from a manager that made him at Ajax. Shocking really. What happened to Donny? Why has he declined so much?

He is injured.
 
Jones
Williams
Heating


The rest provide backup in desperate times.

won’t have a bad word said about them lads. they came out on christmas eve and fixed our boiler. didn’t even charge more than a standard call out. i’d have never managed to cook a turkey that big on a cold radiator. they saved my christmas.
 
DDG, Jones, Baily, Tuanzebe, Dalot, Telles, Fred, VDB, Chong, Martial, Elanga, Pellistri, Amad and Ronaldo.
 
He is injured.
Ah, thanks, didn't know that.

He played all of 19 minutes since the start of the season and already injured is not good. Also, is it fair to ask - why the feck are or players picking up "knocks" in training, so often?
 
won’t have a bad word said about them lads. they came out on christmas eve and fixed our boiler. didn’t even charge more than a standard call out. i’d have never managed to cook a turkey that big on a cold radiator. they saved my christmas.
Good old Tom Heating. Glad he sorted you out :lol:
 
I like to have a squad with starters in their prime, then the squad with young up and coming players or older, experienced players. So my deadwood is:
Shaw
Martial
Jones
AWB
Maguire
Lindelof
Greenwood?

These could be replaced with youth or first teamers.
 
I feel like a lot of people arent able to distinguish 'deadwood' vs 'players we need to replace'

Someone like AWB for example is definitely someone we need to replace, but at this moment he is not deadwood at all because we need him in the squad as long as we dont have another alternative for Dalot.

Deadwood = Players in the current squad who have no function whatsover and we can get rid off any second without needing a direct replacement (as they had no function in the squad).
 
I feel like a lot of people arent able to distinguish 'deadwood' vs 'players we need to replace'

Someone like AWB for example is definitely someone we need to replace, but at this moment he is not deadwood at all because we need him in the squad as long as we dont have another alternative for Dalot.

Deadwood = Players in the current squad who have no function whatsover and we can get rid off any second without needing a direct replacement (as they had no function in the squad).

Yeah, you're right.

You could say that in an ideal world some of these players should be deadwood (meaning, they should be 100% surplus to requirements) - but they clearly aren't here and now.
 
Whisper it but could Sancho become deadwood, at least relative to his price and wages, the way he’s going?
 
DDG, Jones, Baily, Tuanzebe, Dalot, Telles, Fred, VDB, Chong, Martial, Elanga, Pellistri, Amad and Ronaldo.
Elanga, pellistri and amad arent deadwood. They are young players with promising futures. May not make it at utd but will do somwhere else.

Why do people claim to support utd they want to shit all over the young players? We make stars not buy them as fergie said. Its in the utd dna.
 
Whisper it but could Sancho become deadwood, at least relative to his price and wages, the way he’s going?
Hes scored twice this season in 6 games under ETH. Thr entire squad is getting used to ETH tactics and philopshy of football. How is becoming deadwood?
 
Whisper it but could Sancho become deadwood, at least relative to his price and wages, the way he’s going?
he's been up and down....

very good preseason, poor start, good against Liverpool, a few goal involvements but a bit inconsistent since then

certainly aomething to consider end of season when we will see Ten Hag's plans implemented much better.
 
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