Wot, no transfers? It's all happening now!

So, two young right-wingers who are both for the future, and three bench/rotational players, only one of whom plays in a high-priority position. In the meantime the one(?) player we managed to sell arguably had the quality to be a starter for us.

What an incredibly underwhelming window when we needed to kick on.
 
So if we take the Sancho saga out for a bit.. and forget the Spurs game for now and not be reactionary..

VDB
Cavani - backup short term striker
Telles - backup ? challenging for the starting spot .. attacking LB
Some right winger -- TBD

Apparently several (what is it, 4-5?) really talented 16-18 year olds
And keeping Pogba

I would have been totally fine with that list in Aug.

The way it has unfolded has been shit.. and the awful Spurs game hasnt helped with the mood.. but that game was clearly a one off.. we have played much much better teams and not been anywhere near that bad..

Question. If we were open about Sancho not happening because the club lost ~150m unexpectedly and Dortmund were asking for too much.. and manage to get a RW in before the window closes, would you have been fine with it?

You’re definitely a glass half full kind of guy.
  • VdB - Undoubtedly the best player we’ve signed. Whether that position needed strengthening before others is questionable for me. I also think Grealish would have been a better option.
  • Cavani - A washed up injury prone striker, it’s possible it’ll be December before he’s even match fit given how long it’s been since he played or even trained properly.
  • Telles - A backup for a position that wasn’t a high priority in my mind. If we didn’t like Shaw we should be looking to replace him with something better, not the halfway option we’ve taken of a player of similar quality but with different attributes.
  • A load of kids who look raw as feck, the best of which isn’t even coming until January.
  • Pogba - We’ve retained our most overrated player, one who we might have actually got a transfer fee for this year, rather than him stagnating for another year then being in the last year of his contract which will make him potentially worthless next season if we look to cut our losses then.

As for the RW option, at this stage it’s a straight shootout between Sarr and Brooks, neither of which seem likely to provide long term value.

I really wish I could be as optimistic as you about what has been an utterly dire transfer window IMO.
 
Cavani and Telles makes the window decent for me. Not fantastic by any means but it's decent, good at best I'll say. Inability to sign a proper RW in Sancho or Dembele hurts a little bit.

I'm super excited about Cavani and feel he'll surprise us all and will have a very good season. Telles will bench Shaw for good. VDB will bench Pogba by half of the season.
 
We’ve strengthened the squad but it’s become apparent again we’ve got a clown in charge of doing so. Positions neglected, bizarre negotiations, main targets missed, deadwood not sold and all being done on the last day - all of these things have killed the atmosphere at the club and are a reason for the shambolic start in my opinion.
 
We really needed a new CDM, we get overrun far too easily it’s ridiculous. Centre backs don’t help themselves but they get little to no protection. Think we’ll regret not going for Partey at what is a reasonable price.
 
Cavani and Telles makes the window decent for me. Not fantastic by any means but it's decent, good at best I'll say. Inability to sign a proper RW in Sancho or Dembele hurts a little bit.

I'm super excited about Cavani and feel he'll surprise us all and will have a very good season. Telles will bench Shaw for good. VDB will bench Pogba by half of the season.
Its just all so weird and can only be described by incompetence. You don't run a club like this. You don't do a transfer window like this. Its a complete shit show and has 100% negatively impacted the start of our season.

Overall, if before the window you said we'd sign:
  • Van de Beek
  • Telles
  • Cavani
  • Pellistri
  • Traore
I'd say yeah, decent enough, fair in the current climate to go on the squad building route and fill some gaps along with 2 wildcard young players (ignoring obscene fee for Traore with 27 minutes of professional football under his belt).

It was all so doable pretty much 2-3 months ago though. At least before the season started. Instead we literally wasted 3 months chasing Sancho, not realizing that Dortmund was in fact serious about their price and deadline (surprise surprise, not the first time they've been stubborn. Amateurish from us). And then we do all this on deadline day when we finally give up on Sancho? fecking hell. Woodward deserves sacking so many times over for what a disaster this window was, but the sad part is its the same every year. They move the window up to finish before the season and we still leave it to deadline day. They move the window back to adjust for covid, and we don't sort shit out til October. What the feck??

Anyway, at least we got it in belatedly. But this just isn't how you handle business.
 
We’ve strengthened the squad but it’s become apparent again we’ve got a clown in charge of doing so. Positions neglected, bizarre negotiations, main targets missed, deadwood not sold and all being done on the last day - all of these things have killed the atmosphere at the club and are a reason for the shambolic start in my opinion.

Yeah doesn't seem fair that Mason is out on the RW just because our board couldn't be bothered to sign a proper one
 
I wonder how many are now thinking that Bale option doesn't sound so bad right about now....
 
We really needed a new CDM, we get overrun far too easily it’s ridiculous. Centre backs don’t help themselves but they get little to no protection. Think we’ll regret not going for Partey at what is a reasonable price.

Ole has this deluded faith in Fred & McTominay being able to cover Matic is why we didn't go for him.

Just wait til they come to Old Trafford and he runs the game then maybe Ole will realise what a horrendous mistake he has made trusting them.
 
I wonder how many are now thinking that Bale option doesn't sound so bad right about now....

Woody went all in on Sancho and it backfired badly,then thought he could get Dembele but he has been left to look like an absolute prat
 
Ole has this deluded faith in Fred & McTominay being able to cover Matic is why we didn't go for him.

Just wait til they come to Old Trafford and he runs the game then maybe Ole will realise what a horrendous mistake he has made trusting them.
Yeah, such a glaring hole in the team, especially if he’s going to try and fit in 2 of Bruno, Pogba and VdB.
Biggest problem with the first 11.
 
We sold Smalling to cover the Telles fee. Cavani came for free.

And we signed Donny. We've spent what? 45mill? Thats not nearly enough backing.
 
Lose 6-1 yesterday with Bambi on Ice and Slabhead at CB and signing 18 year old wingers out of the blue for 30 plus million today?
And apparently we have no money to sign real targets that we need now?
I give up!! its absolutely criminal whats going behind the scenes
 
Lose 6-1 yesterday with Bambi on Ice and Slabhead at CB and signing 18 year old wingers out of the blue for 30 plus million today?
And apparently we have no money to sign real targets that we need now?
I give up!! its absolutely criminal whats going behind the scenes

Cannot see Ole surviving if we miss out on champions league football
 
You’re definitely a glass half full kind of guy.
  • VdB - Undoubtedly the best player we’ve signed. Whether that position needed strengthening before others is questionable for me. I also think Grealish would have been a better option.
  • Cavani - A washed up injury prone striker, it’s possible it’ll be December before he’s even match fit given how long it’s been since he played or even trained properly.
  • Telles - A backup for a position that wasn’t a high priority in my mind. If we didn’t like Shaw we should be looking to replace him with something better, not the halfway option we’ve taken of a player of similar quality but with different attributes.
  • A load of kids who look raw as feck, the best of which isn’t even coming until January.
  • Pogba - We’ve retained our most overrated player, one who we might have actually got a transfer fee for this year, rather than him stagnating for another year then being in the last year of his contract which will make him potentially worthless next season if we look to cut our losses then.

As for the RW option, at this stage it’s a straight shootout between Sarr and Brooks, neither of which seem likely to provide long term value.

I really wish I could be as optimistic as you about what has been an utterly dire transfer window IMO.
This.

You need to be a ‘glass filled to the brim’ kind of person to take any positives from this summer.
 
Can someone explain how all of this comes down to the last day?

If I was at the club I'd have my targets loaded for the next 4 windows.

Is it that we have no money or do players just not fancy us anymore?
Or a combo of both?
 
Can someone explain how all of this comes down to the last day?

If I was at the club I'd have my targets loaded for the next 4 windows.

Is it that we have no money or do players just not fancy us anymore?
Or a combo of both?

Quite simply Woody & Judge need to relinquish power for things to improve on that front
 
You’re definitely a glass half full kind of guy.
  • VdB - Undoubtedly the best player we’ve signed. Whether that position needed strengthening before others is questionable for me. I also think Grealish would have been a better option.
  • Cavani - A washed up injury prone striker, it’s possible it’ll be December before he’s even match fit given how long it’s been since he played or even trained properly.
  • Telles - A backup for a position that wasn’t a high priority in my mind. If we didn’t like Shaw we should be looking to replace him with something better, not the halfway option we’ve taken of a player of similar quality but with different attributes.
  • A load of kids who look raw as feck, the best of which isn’t even coming until January.
  • Pogba - We’ve retained our most overrated player, one who we might have actually got a transfer fee for this year, rather than him stagnating for another year then being in the last year of his contract which will make him potentially worthless next season if we look to cut our losses then.

As for the RW option, at this stage it’s a straight shootout between Sarr and Brooks, neither of which seem likely to provide long term value.

I really wish I could be as optimistic as you about what has been an utterly dire transfer window IMO.

This post is like if Covid and Aids had a baby.
 
you have to laugh... but I wouldn't put it past Ed Deadwood:


  • Borussia Dortmund were reportedly left baffled after Manchester United made a late £1m offer for Nico Schulz.
 
Rumours are we will go for Upacemano next year (while Ole supposedly still wants Sancho and Haaland). If Ed Woodentop starts negotiating now, we might get one of them by 2025