In fairness toward Ole, whilst doubting him as a long term at the club, I don't think even doubters like me can argue with the fact that he's taken the club to a better place than where it was before he joined. And that he's brought in players that fit the ethos of the club, and one that fans would identify with too. I don't think Dalglish even did that
@Footy van de Geek
I'm personally not the biggest fan of Maguire or AWB. They don't fit with the style that I like to see from my team.
I like a CB to be mobile and able to defend 1 vs 1. Bailly and Tuanzebe can do these things, but aren't able to stay fit and are inferior aerially. McGrath, Pallister, Stam and Rio could all defend 1 vs 1. Good athleticism to go with their reading of the game. You need that from a top CB. Bruce and Vidić were dominant in the air like Maguire can be, but better at it. Especially at attacking the ball. Maguire has wasted several chances from corners.
As for AWB, outstanding in 1 vs 1 defensive duels. But his attacking play is average at best. I would take a TAA over an AWB.
Bruno and vdB are very good signings. Ole doesn't know what to do with the latter. Cavani should be a good stopgap for 2 years and add some extra experience to the forward line.
And I like signings like Amad Diallo who is a long term signing with a high ceiling.
That fall precipitated Ole. It's not because of Ole that it has occurred. We were on our knees when he came in, and it genuinely looked and felt like the club was breaking apart at the seams. I was there at every game, home and away, so I have a good grasp of the fan feeling at the time as well. I'd never seen the atmosphere be as toxic as it was during the latter stages of Jose. Never.
Ole came in and gave an initial lift. The players were happy to be rid of Mourinho and to show him up. That didn't last long. What happened from the Arsenal defeat in March until the signing of Bruno was as bad as anything witnessed post Ferguson. 18 defeats between March 10th 2019 and February 1st 2020 (Bruno debut). Mourinho lost 28 games over an almost 31 month spell in charge. Ole got close to 20 in just 11 months.
What we are doing now, is building ourselves back up but it will take time. He's improved a lot of the players he's inherited, which predominantly wasn't the case with LvG and Jose (and the less said about Moyes the better), he's also been the first post-SAF manager who is actually doing a rebuild and not just tacking on his players to an already bloated squad. All of these measures take time, and they take even longer when you have one of the youngest squads and teams in the league and when you have to deal with a board like ours and Covid on top of everything else.
Giving De Gea a massive salary to go with his contract extension is what I would call tacking on a player. That was a terrible decision. We will probably never be able to shift De Gea who is a massive problem. He has contributed to many of Ole's defeats, yet he stands by him.
Ighalo is another one tacked on. We didn't need to extend his loan. The lockdown actually benefitted us, as we were able to get Pogba and Rashford back in time for the restart. We only brought him in due to being light up front heading into months of no Rashford. But nope, we extended him loan deal as some sort of PR stunt because he was deemed a likeable character and it's a feel good story for the club to milk. But Ighalo isn't here for free, he's reportedly on over 100k a week. Yet he can't even make a match squad most weeks since the restart over the summer.
Brandon Williams got a new contract with a salary increase. He has barely used him this season. If the reports about Ole and his staff now realising that Brandon might not have the potential they once thought, then that's another surplus player we have tied ourselves to for years. There aren't many midtable clubs who will be able to afford his wages. He might not want to take a lower wage elsewhere should we look to move him on next year.
It’s not really
that young, is it?
- De Gea - 30 - almost 600 career appearances (PL winner, FA Cup winner, LC winner, EL winner)
- Romero - 33 years old - 96 caps for Argentina and played in a WC final (Eredivisie winner, FA Cup winner, LC winner, EL winner)
- Maguire - 27 years old - 100+ PL appearances and played in a WC semi final
- Lindelöf - 26 years old - Almost 400 career appearances (Primeira Liga winner & Taca de Portugal winner)
- Shaw - 25 years old - 150+ PL appearances (LC winner, EL winner)
- Telles - Almost 28 years old - Nearly 50 EL & CL appearances (Süper Lig winner, Turkish Cup winner x2, Liga Primeira winner x2, Taca de Portugal winner)
- Matić - 32 years old - 200+ PL appearances (Primeira Liga winner, PL winner x 2, LC winner)
- Pogba - 27 years old - 400+ career appearances (WC winner, Serie A winner x4, Copa Italia winner x2, LC winner, EL winner)
- Fred - 27 years old - 50+ EL & CL appearances (Ukrainian PL x 3, Ukrainian Cup x3)
- vdB - 23 years old - 200+ career appearances (Eredivisie winner, KNVB Cup winner)
- Bruno - 26 years old - 100+ Serie A appearances (Taca de Portugal winner, Taca de Liga winner x2, Nations League winner)
- Mata - 32 years old - Scored in a European Championship final (WC winner, EC winner, CL winner, EL winner x2, FA Cup winner x 2, EL winner, Copa del Rey winner)
- Rashford - 23 years old - 250+ career appearances (FA Cup winner, LC winner, EL winner)
- Martial - 25 years old in 2 days - 300+ career appearances (FA Cup winner, LC winner, EL winner)
- Cavani - 33 years old - 700+ career appearances (Copa América winner, Copa Italia winner, Ligue 1 winner x 6, Coupe de France winner x4, PSG all time top goalscorer)
- Ighalo - 31 years old - 400+ career appearances (AFCON golden boot winner 2019)
I’d consider Henderson (23), Williams (20), AWB (23), Tuanzebe (23), TFM (22) McTominay (23), James (23) and Greenwood (19) as the young or inexperienced squad members who feature. Players with less than 100 PL appearances. Mengi and Pellistri might join this group.
Of that group, AWB, McTominay and Greenwood are the only regulars. McTominay isn't that even young, he just lacks games at this level.
And I didn’t mention other experienced players out favour/injured like Rojo (30), Jones (28), Bailly (26) and Lingard (27).
The players are also still very early in their development. There will be inconsistency issues, which is what we're dealing with right now but the stats bear it out that we're improving on this front also. The window for leeway on this front however, is closing, and by the end of this season and the start of next, it needs to be accomplished. Though, that is also dependent on Ole being given the players that he needs, and for two consecutive summers now, he's not really been given all that he's asked for and needed. The first summer, we went without a striker to replace Lukaku and a proper midfield presence for the first 6 months. The second summer, needs no mention (Sancho, Grealish and a CB + LB were sought - only one of these came in).
Now you're talking sense. Our squad is coming to its peak over the next 18 months. Lots of our players are in their prime years or just past it (De Gea, Maguire, Fred, Pogba, Bruno, Martial, Cavani). Greenwood and AWB still have time to develop, but the starting XI in general is getting close to the average age of 26/27 that you usually see from a starting XI that wins titles.
Welcome to the life of a football manager. You don't always get who you what. Ferguson missed out on several players throughout his career (Shearer, Ronaldinho, Essien, Robben, Hazard). That's why the anayltics team put together a list of 3-5 candidates for a desired position and you work from there. For example, Max Aarons was touted as an alternative to AWB if we could't sign him. We didn't get Sancho, so we signed two younger and cheaper alternatives in Pellistri and Amad Diallo. If either can fulfill their potential, we will have saved a lot of money on Sancho. We didn't sign Grealish, but landed vdB. The only way Grealish gets into our 4-2-3-1 is if Ole decided to drop Rashford or move him to RW permanently. The other option would be a 4-3-3 with Bruno and Grealish ahead of a lone anchorman. Ole clearly doesn't like that idea, as he hasn't tried Pogba or vdB with Bruno in a three. He's no different to any other manager in missing out on targets. Moyes, LvG and Mourinho all experienced the same. During a global pandemic that affects finances, we were never going to land both Sancho and Grealish in one window. Not to worry, Greenwood can play RW/RF and we've now got two very interesting prospects in Pellistri and Amad Diallo. I can see Diallo surprising a lot of people next season.
With that in mind, Ole did a tremendous job last year and essentially condensed two seasons' worth of transition into one. The danger this season is that the progress might be stalled, but it seems this Covid season is going to be a bit of a leveller for every team. However, if he can get 4th or better this season, then he deserves to see out the next season as well (provided we aren't totally cut adrift by next Christmas) but more importantly, is finally given the players he wants and needs. So that means a new DM, a new CB, a new RW (if Diallo still needs to settle) and then if funds allow, a new ST. All of these guys need to be starters also.
If we don't get at least 75 points this season (3 extra wins), that is a very poor return after two seasons of 66 points. The title winners might only get around 82-84 points, so that would be considered closing the gap.
What you basically want is Ole to be a chequebook manager. Spend, spend, spend. Lots of United fans shit on Pep for the same thing. That's fine if they can admit that it's hypocritical should they change their tune when it comes to our spending. A GK, CB and RW are the main things missing from the starting XI. Henderson might be an in-house solution to our GK situation, and so might Greenwood at RW/RF if he can get back on track. Diallo will give Greenwood a good run for his money from the games I've seen (mainly UEFA YL). So that leaves a CB partner for Maguire as a main priority. I think it's ridiculous that we have to find someone to cover for our record breaking CB's weaknesses. But that's the reality of the situation. He's not van Dijk who could make it work with Matip, Gomez and even Lovren. He won't be going anywhere, so we might as well live with the reality of it. Tuanzebe has the skillset needed to compliment Maguire tbf, but he's probably missed too much football already at 23. I'd sign Koundé if Upamecano is considered too expensive.
And that concludes my TED Talk
