And we over payed for all of them excluding Herrera because he had a release clause. Yes the so called Rooney contract which his earning ludicrous money on a 5 year deal by the time he'll be in his 30's and declined.
Woodward (old thread)
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We'll never know that for sure really. It might just be the club hanging Moyes out to dry. Woody has signed a couple of players a year too late, over payed drastically for another and payed a club record fee for the last one. The jury is still very much out for me.
Agree. I'm convinced that the two signings were already done from the previous season in principle. We are yet to see a LVG signing. It can't be underestimated the amount of work left to do in a relatively short time, the clock is ticking and personally I'm worried. We need at least 3 players and move on 4-5 players.
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I agree with your concerns about timing. United always seem to take an awful amount of time to sign any player, let alone those marque players that we fans all crave. Post World Cup, Real have signed Kroos and Rodriguez, just like that...
We seem to struggle with lesser signings too. Nothing appears to be relatively easy. How hard was it to sign the Spanish lad, and that took over a season. Shaw should have been done and dusted before the world club. Can you imagine if he was superb in the WC and a BM or Barca stepped in? We are the worst of the top 4-5 teams in the worked at signing players.
Yeah I struggle with that too. I know the lure of Real is strong, but they don't mess around when it comes to transfer dealings. When they start proceedings it happens within a weeks.
To be fair, that was quite a complicated transfer for obvious reasons.
Agree with this. With all the excessively big talk he has to deliver. He's put pressure on himself by making statements indicating singings were just around the corner. If he's actually done it with little in hand to bang on about, then he's a moron.
Also unlike other summers where we talk big this is one time when we've genuinely needed it
I'd love Vidal and or Strootman.
Failing that, I'd love Blind and De Jong.
Two good players and the deals shouldn't be too complicated.
Hope we're not chasing a big name just for the sake of it.
Failing that, I'd love Blind and De Jong.
Two good players and the deals shouldn't be too complicated.
Hope we're not chasing a big name just for the sake of it.
Louis van Gaal has said he will not sign player for the sake of it but only to improve his selection.
He loves coaching players therefore if he feels he could improve the likes of Cleverley then he might not see the point in signing a player for that position.
I am a little worried because Cleverley strikes me as the person who would ask Louis van Gaal to teach him how to play football and then work hard to improve himself and Louis van Gaal strikes me as the person who loves the learning process, who loves how to teach somebody to be better.
It's as if football to him is more than just winning a match or trophies, it's an art form, through it you learn about life. And so he might actually prefer somebody like Cleverley as opposed to signing the finished article and having little to show them.
Hopefully I am wrong.
Hopefully you are wrong?
You disagree with the very soul that makes Manchester United what it is?
I hope your wrong to although what your saying is spot on, his a ex PE teacher so has that teaching side to him.
What a stupid thing to say on his part. When was that anyway, about three weeks ago? And nothing.
Imagine this scenario, We didn't sign someone even when it was evident that we needed good singings because Moyes didn't have the time to scout. We finished 7th and sacked Moytes.
Now this year LVG doesn't sign because of no time. We sack him at the end of the season because we couldn't get into the Top 4 and appoint another manager.
Again the new manager has no time to scout and assess the team......................
I am k kidding!
Now this year LVG doesn't sign because of no time. We sack him at the end of the season because we couldn't get into the Top 4 and appoint another manager.
Again the new manager has no time to scout and assess the team......................
I am k kidding!
Moyes had plenty time to assess his players and make signings. Problem with him was he was a dithering fool.
The only reason LVG is late doing business is the fact he was at the World Cup.
Should appoint 'Arry in this scenario. He would make use of our £1 billion ++ war chest
I have to agree, at this point, even if he made a big buy tomorrow, he's just annoyed everyone for no reason.
We don't even need to hear from him, a comment from LVG that we're still looking is sufficient.
Yes. He shouldn't say anything really. He certainly shouldn't say something to give the fans so much hope and expectation and then fail to deliver.
We paid what needed to be paid to get the player we wanted, no doubt you would have complained if he refused to pay that amount, he's on a lose/lose with some people.
As for Rooney, you or I don't know what type of contract he has, we can only guess like the rest of them, the then manager wanted him to stay and was prepared to offer him a new contract to convince him, Woodward backed his manager, and for this he should be criticised?
That's true, but if I was a gambling man I'd say that Moyes was to blame, obviously I have no proof, but it doesn't take a genius to work out.
As I said in a previous post, if he under spends he's criticised, if he over spends he's criticised, if he doesn't spend he's criticised, if a player decides to go elsewhere, guess what, he's criticised. He can't win, he's proven that he's not afraid to spend money, he's broke the Clubs record fee and he's willing to do it again.
too much common sense.
These deals cannot be done overnight. We will get the players van Gaal needs. As for Rooney...I'm just glad we have a top quality player like him playing for us.
Exactly, I think some fans want us to sign players against the manager wishes, for the sole purpose of bragging to their mates.
Rooney is looking in the best preseason shape for a long time. I think he will have a great season ahead and is my bet for Captain.
While it's true that there's time remaining in the window, I would have thought (LvG's time during the WC and his need to assess the squad notwithstanding) that United would not be in the transfer market seeking 2, potentially 3 first XI players this late.
All of United's peers/rivals have their starting XI in place. This may be good for us as there's not so much competition for our targets, but it requires getting deals finalized in the next three weeks.
I have no basis for having this concern, but I'm starting to wonder if Woodward is mistaking United's strong bargaining position on the commercial side, given the club's appeal around the world with a similarly strong bargaining position when negotiating with potential transfer targets. United may not have as strong a position in these negotiations as compared to commercial sponsors.
All of United's peers/rivals have their starting XI in place. This may be good for us as there's not so much competition for our targets, but it requires getting deals finalized in the next three weeks.
I have no basis for having this concern, but I'm starting to wonder if Woodward is mistaking United's strong bargaining position on the commercial side, given the club's appeal around the world with a similarly strong bargaining position when negotiating with potential transfer targets. United may not have as strong a position in these negotiations as compared to commercial sponsors.
I think inorder to please you he should just die because with you he is damned if does and damned if he doesn't. He spent what was necessary to get the players his manager needed and you crucify him for that ! So if he says Vidal is too expensive what are you going to do ? Applaud him for being sensible ? I don't think so.
Right now we don't know exactly what is going on and who has held up any deals so it's inappropriate to apportion blame . What we know is that LVG is not the type of manager to be swayed by reputations or plunge into transfers just like that and we also know that players we mah want have plenty of options to consider besides us ( who would have seen Vermalaen at Barcelona?), so Woodward is not the one in total control of all the factors. If you compare with teams like City and Chelsea with settled managers who know exactly what their teams need you can see the deference in decisiveness . If this window sucks like it's threatening to do we will never know who is totally at fault unless we have someone who had ears in meetings between LVG and Woodward, just the same way as we can't conclude with a measure of certainty the one at the root of last season's disaster.
That and he had to manage the team during the pre-season tour, which he voiced concerns about.
Wait... what?
I'd like to know what Giggs and the other assistants have been doing all summer. If he has ideas of being a future United manager having a clue about who we need to sign or being aware of the talent abroad would be a decent start. There's just no excuse to have been so poor in the market this summer when we knew Rio/Vidic were leaving and since then Evra has left and Carrick picked up an injury that'll see him miss the first 3 months of the season. It's very concerning to say the least.
How and why is he being blamed for anything, when all evidence so far points to LVG being the one who hasn't made any decisions and may seemingly not want players?
The United way is to sign stars, not make them.
We really do need to so something about our transfer department, I think we have won so much for so many years they just aren't sharp enough to get transfers done in a timely fashion, especially when it comes to foreign players and hard to get targets.
Chelsea wanted a lb,cm and st and they went out and signed costa, cesc and Luiz in a fairly rapid fashion. I'd like to see us move with a bit more purpose....I'm not sure any of this is woodies fault btw.
Probably as he was leaking stuff to the press all last season, and then gave an interview telling people to watch this space. Fair enough if van gaal hasn't given him an extensive list but he should've learnt that it's better to be quiet until deals are done.
That was the interview that led me to believe that we have more than one marquee signing coming out way, and I still feel that way. You are right in that maybe he should haven't been so brazen in the interview, but I think that at that moment he felt that our targets were landed.
Hard to say what has been going on. I seriously doubt that Giggs had any authority to act in the transfer market. We did hear that he briefed Van Gaal on club matters whilst the latter was in Brazil but no more than that. Giggs was there to hold the fort until such time as Van Gaal took up his appointment. Whether he takes over as manager at some point is anyone's guess.
Personally, I don't expect too many new signings before the start of the season. For all Woodward's talk, I wonder if the cost of buying the players we need hasn't caused the Glazers to think again. Signing players like Hummels, Vidal, and one or two more will cost well over £100 million, maybe more. I think we'll go through this coming season with what we've got, minus a few more outgoing transfers, and that Van Gaal will promote some of the youngsters. I've no objection to that and from what I've seen, there's some really good players amongst them. Trouble is, bedding in new players takes time, whether they're incoming transfers or youngsters from the reserves, and time is the one thing we don't have in spades. Another season out of the Champions League and the suits will be worried men indeed. Not saying it'll happen, but without considerable strengthening (replacing the players you've mentioned for a start) it might.
Don't forget what Woodward said just after he was mouthing off about money being no object. A nice little hole to wriggle through if we don't sign anyone:
"It’s also worth commenting that we’re not in Europe this year, so there are fewer games and Louis may take the view that he wants a tighter squad to bed in."
"If you do the analysis over the last year, Liverpool performed extremely well with a smaller number of players, but that’s a decision for the manager."
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Oh yeah I forgot. And we hate players who want to learn and managers who want to teach.
Chocolate teapot.
He will be blamed because he makes big bold statements indicating that we are going to spend massive amounts or have deals pretty much in the bag, and anyone who does that without showing results, deserves that.
He can hardly complain if everyone is "watching the space" with loads of expectation.
I spoke about Giggs because in your original post you implied that more hadn't been done in the transfer market due to the world cup/pre season tour and while that's true to some degree Giggs has known he's the assistant for months so surely he should have been actively focusing on first team matters the most obvious being replacements for the senior players leaving.
Of course he doesn't have the authority to act in the transfer market but he should be LVG's go to man for what the squad needs and has all summer to work with the club scouts and forming an opinion on the targets, I don't know what "holding the fort" is exactly but like I said in my previous post if he has ambitions of being a United manager then surely he should have very clear ideas on how to shape the team/squad. 90% of the Caf could tell you we need a minimum of 1 CB and a winger and that's if he's ok going into next season with Carrick/Fletcher/Cleverly as a partner for Herrera, if not another CM.
The Glazers of all people should realise that the lucrative sponsorships deals will soon dry up if we miss out on CL football again and that star players are incredibly important for brand value, Chevrolet and Adidas aren't paying fortunes to put their logo on Tom Cleverly. As for Woodward's recent comments it's hardly surprising he hasn't got a clue. Liverpool had the benefit of a United side who fell to pieces along with Suarez performing better than any other player in the world. It's unlikely any United player reaches the same level Suarez did or that any club in the current top 4 suffers such a dramatic drop off.
We should look to have four quality central midfielders.
We have Carrick and we have Herrera, we should look to sign players like Vidal and Strootman (if he recovers well from his injury). I'm not saying Cleverley isn't a good player or that he can't improve, however I think it is an unnecessary risk in this moment with so much at stake.
We have a lot at stake, if presented with the possibility of signing a player like Vidal then Louis van Gaal should go for it even if it comes at the expense of coaching a talent like Cleverley.
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