Why have we been so crap for so long?

[MoskvaRed]

Recruitment is the hardest thing in sports.

It also gets harder when you have fallen away from the leading pack. We can’t realistically sell to potential recruits a vision of winning the Champions League any time soon and so we largely end up with players who are either Plan B or over the hill and, in both cases, paying over the odds on wages.

 

[Murder on Zidanes Floor]

It also gets harder when you have fallen away from the leading pack. We can’t realistically sell to potential recruits a vision of winning the Champions League any time soon and so we largely end up with players who are either Plan B or over the hill and, in both cases, paying over the odds on wages.

It is but we have also not used statistics effectively nor looking at mentality too.

 

[Beans]

It also gets harder when you have fallen away from the leading pack. We can’t realistically sell to potential recruits a vision of winning the Champions League any time soon and so we largely end up with players who are either Plan B or over the hill and, in both cases, paying over the odds on wages.

Liverpool didn't look like they were gonna win the CL anytime soon before they built their recent squad. Neither did Chelsea, who looked less likely to win it all than us the last few years, and rely on big wages to draw players.

Woodward doesn't help saying we would break transfer records, everyone was looking for a record payday from us, selling at reasonable prices to others while we got grouped with City into the "sucker" price range.

It seemed we ended that with Bruno, where we refused to meet their value and held out for another 6 months. Hopefully that's over. Of course it makes it impossible to get rid of the players when it doesn't work out, look at Rojo or the Portugese keeper who's name is escaping me, or the offer for Martial to pay half his wages. It's a miracle Inter took Sanchez, we're gonna be stuck with Martial unless we swallow our pride and accept a loan where we pay half the wages. Which I'm guessing we won't do, as it sets a presidence teams will point to in the future.

Schneiderlein still irks me, he was so terrible, it's like VDB, I know he has more in his locker than we've seen or he never would have started for Ajax. Schneiderlein was part of a Southampton team that had bossed us in midfield the year before we bought him, iirc. We couldn't even boss Southampton with him in our squad and them having to replace him!

 

[Polar]

Both we and the players thought United had hit the bottom and let troubling times behind. We were suppose to take another step and fight for titles.

It was unexpeted and a huge surprise for all of us when we got trouble and was heading back to the quagmire. It was a a enormous set back and off course the players are all time low mentally.

I don’t think our existing squad has what it takes to hit back, so I will be very surprised If this season doesn’t end in catastrophe.

 

[BuzzKillington]

Sir Alex retired, yes, but unfortunately he had already made decisions or been party to decisions that led to the longterm decline of the club e.g. under investment in the side due to the American take-over - google Rock of Gibralta or read Keanes biography.

He loves the club, don't get me wrong and even in retirement he's tried to reverse things, but actually it made things worse from blocking Mourinho as his immediate successor, right up to phoning Ronaldo (age 36) in August 2021... which threw Oles project into turmoil.

The club allowed him too much power when he was the manager and by employing him as a well paid club Ambassador, he's become a thorn in every subsequent coaches side, namely a back seat driver.

Amazingly, Utd. have been here before, in the nineteen seventies.

Great stuff, 1967-1993 so we should become good again around 2039.

 

[The Brown Bull]

SAF was a great manager.
Somehow he managed to win the title with a sub par squad in 2013.Major rebuilding was needed.
We replaced SAF with an average manager who wasn’t backed in the market.
We have been living with the consequences ever since.The longer it goes on the worse it gets.

 

[Canucantona20]

Ownership is the reason. For example,

I’m a Golden State Warriors fan. Grew up in the Bay Area so have been going to games my whole life. Early 200’s we had an owner who was horrible. Didn’t spend money on the team, hired the wrong executives, rarely came to games or provided a statement, just an all around joke of an owner. We we the laughing stock of the league for awhile, although we did sneak into playoffs in 2008.

Then he sold the team to new owners who actually care. The majority owner wants to win so bad he’s paying luxury tax every year to pay the players. The executives and coaches are all top notch. Their is clear communication from the ownership to the fans on what is expected from the team.

Manchester United are not operated like a football club from the top down. Changes have been made to rectify this but results on the field will not change until a proper plan is put in place.

 

[CloneMC16]

People overstate how poor the squad was in 2012-13. It was not bad at all.

DDG
Evra, aged 30-31
Rio, 31-32
Vidic, 31-32
Valencia
Promising youngsters Phil Jones and Smalling, who both started well and looked like the next generation of defenders
Chicharito, a fantastic super-sub
Rooney, 27-28
Carrick, 31-32
Nani, an excellent player at the time
Ashley Young in his best years
RVP with thirty goals that season
Experienced seniors Giggs and Scholes to advise younger players and were fine with playing very seldom

That's an amazing core of players. Some were getting a bit old, but it's not like 30-32 is ancient for world class defenders, and RVP took the league by storm that year. Of course we had the likes of Cleverley and Bebé, but any club has dross on the bench. Some of the veterans began to leave when Fergie did, and many players were clearly unenthusiastic about playing for Moyes, but it's kind of a myth that SAF left him with a crap squad. It wasn't the perfect team, but it was certainly more robust than any we've had since.

Evra, Rio, Vidic, Scholes, and Giggs were all on the decline. DDG was good, but was still making errors in his 2nd season. Lindegaard came in and played after he made errors. He didn't go up a level until 13/14. Valencia was a very average player. He 'replaced' Ronaldo and was so far off his level it made you cry. Jones and Smalling looked okay at first, but they were still nowhere near the standard we required. The drop off from Rio and Vidic was monumental.

We had major quality from RVP and Carrick. They carried the season. Rooney also showed some quality. I will not forget that season. The fans complained a lot at how bad some of the performances were. We kept coming back after going behind. It was good to see us winning games, but those kind of performances weren't sustainable. Especially with a squad that was in the decline.

The squad needed a major rebuild. Jones and Smalling weren't good enough. We had no replacement for Evra. Cleverly was no replacement for Scholes. The fans turned him into a major scapegoat. He got too much abuse, but he was still nowhere near Scholes level. Valencia was always an extremely average player. I liked Nani, but he wasn't consistent enough like a Giggs or Ronaldo. Apart from DDG, Carrick, RVP, and Rooney (who I think started to decline pretty much as soon as Sir Alex left), most of the other players were already too old and needed to be replaced, not good enough/too inconsistent, or too injury prone.

The standard of the squad started slipping in 2010. We had a good first XI back then, but the rest of the squad wasn't that great. It has gotten worse since and it's been 12 years.