Transfer Rumours Let's ignore the big ****ing elephant and blame the latest manager, again. Are we nearly there yet?

No, I completely agree and not getting CL qualification means we really should aim 'lower' and avoid those types this window.

Macguire, Rice, Wan Bissaka, James all very reasonable targets, all taking a massive step up.

Would any of us have Depay or Zaha back, out of interest?

We'd have Rashford, Martial and Greenwood to play at centre forward, do we even need to replace Lukaku? Probably not.

The problem I have with Martial and Pogba though is that they appear, on the face of it, to be two of the central figures in this rot. How are they coaching team who can't get any effort out of them now supposed to turn that round?

Or is it all about Sanchez and his wages? Bit too obvious for me that.

 

I personally wouldn't have Depay or Zaha back, partly because I think Depay's current form is immaterial in the Dutch league, but more importantly don't see any room for improvement/progress for either. And the level they're at won't add anything long term.

Also think there's more optimism for Martial's attitude improving than Pogba's. It seems to me Martial like Rashford are young and disillusioned by what they see around them. Change that and their attitude will change.

The only reason I'd want to keep Pogba because without him it may just be too many players having to be brought in for mf.

 

Depay plays in France, but would only be in the same position as Dan James so not worth pursuing, although he always had all the talent.

Zaha could do well on our right though, a position we need to fill. Dalot could play there otherwise, assuming we buy a right back.

You'd have Martial, Rashford, James, Greenwood,Zaha/Dalot as options with pace across the front line.

If you've got Pogba, Rice, Fred, McTominay, Mata and, to a lesser extent, Lingard in the midfield, that's surely a squad capable of getting back into top four?

That's without the likes of Gomes, Pereira, Chong & Garner kicking on.

 

It's a hard one, I'd be just about happy with that, even without Zaha. Gut feeling is I still think another creative midfielder is needed.

And for all that to work need a decent defence otherwise we'll have the same problems again. RB as you've said Wan Bissaka. CB Maguire.

 

Also imperative that Sanchez and Lukaku are shipped out because of the pay structure problems being caused.

And Young, Jones, Rojo, Matic shipped out because they're dead weights holding the club back. That takes nothing away from Young and Jones attitude but need to be ruthless to move forward.

 

Thoughts on Perreira?

 

Godin and Filipe Luis on a free?

 

Godin might be useful but I thought he'd already been snapped up?

No worse an idea than when we got Blanc for a couple of seasons. We'd still need a Maguire though.

 

Is Godin still good? Do you think he would he be more reliable in the Prem than Gary Cahill on a free?

 

Who knows, quality player on his day as is Luis. You need a lot of players getting a couple on a free might be an idea.

 

Imagine the attitude problems festering away with a trio of Depay, Pogba and Martial in the same dressing room - way too toxic, worse than it already is.

 

I did suggest this before. If we bring in Maguire for example with Lindelof. Free up wages for Rojo, Jones, Darmian and perhaps Bailly. Then we can afford to still have Smalling and a Free (e.g. Godin or Cahill)... why not. Gives us plenty to rotate in certain games/comps.

 

Linked to Inter but nothing done.

 

Definitely no from me for Zaha and Depay, you can smell players like that a mile off. Spurs fell into that trap with Serge Aurier who on his day can be a great full back but he just isn’t a team player. Zaha and Depay need to be the big fish to thrive.

Rice/Ndidi would be a good start, with Maguire.

After that if we sell Lukaku then replace him with somebody like Joao Felix from Benfica and promote Greenwood to the number 9 role. If we ever have a season to give this lad a chance it’s this one coming up.

 

From Daily Express...

And, as the 46-year-old steered the club back onto the right path with wins over the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea and PSG, pressure grew to confirm Solskjaer on a permanent basis.

Woodward, initially, was keen to resist the temptation. He knew the dangers it would potentially bring.

Sky Sports pundit Jim White spoke with the United chief during Solskjaer’s interim spell. White said: “Ed Woodward told me, on the record, that last week was not a proud one for Manchester United."

“He said the club now needed to undergo the proper process of finding the right manager and that nothing will be announced before the end of the season.

"He said he'd been inundated with applications and recommendations—the top people in the game want this job. But he said, at the end of the day, nothing will be announced before the end of the season.”

The words that stand out? Nothing would be announced until the end of the season.

But fast-forward to now, and Woodward’s decision to break his promise looks to have haunted him.

 

Let's face the facts. United has been **** since Ferguson retired. All the managers (who had awesome prior reputations) became failures and left diminished. Many top and expensive players who were recruited and again left as failures. The list is endless. Falcao, and Di Maria, were just part of many of such players. Lukaku Pogba and Sanchez were recruited at great cost as they were playing great for their ex clubs but eventually went downhill and were diminished.

This slump was inevitable as night follows day. I said it at the time when ferguson left and most people here said:" you are ****ing joking. All we need was to just carry on as we had been doing and we'll remain at the top". I said we not only needed a brilliant manager but more than £300m. People laughed and said we only needed a small fraction of that. "Because we were champions".

No **** mate. The problem is that when a great manager leaves you have to replace him with another great one. And the club has to have structure in place to make sure there is some sort of continuity. When Ferguson left, an average manager Moyes was recruited. What did he instantly do? he sacked all the backroom staff and the main recruiting executive Gill left. So we have a brand new set of coaches who destroyed the continuity and a new naïve executive who knew nothing about football. No wonder it failed. Moyes was clearly not up for it in such a cauldron and without support. Then Van Gaal came full of promise but his style of play just didn't suit English football never mind Old Trafford. Fans fell asleep watching his teams play as he prized possession over goals. Mourinho was a disaster waiting to happen as he tried to put himself over everyone else. He thought about himself first and then the club.

Solskjaer is not looking promising at the moment but I say give him time to fail. What has the club got to ****ing lose? We are already out of the CL. Let's recruit players who want to play for us. Sell the ****ing **** who couldn't give a damn and who has incentive to play badly as he will then be more like to be sold to Madrid. De Gea wanted to go and if he still wants to go then let's sell him and get a good price. Sanchez has been a total failure and his recruitment was just absurd and his wages are clearly creating havoc in the dressing room.

Let's place a modern permanent structure which has not been put in because no one wanted to upset Fergsuon. Let Ole play out his system and if he fails he will be sacked. I say that let's keep our nerve and accept poor results as long as there is some sort of long term vision and improvement is likely. I'll accept even mid table if it meant giving our youngsters a go and that improves the future prospects.


AND the RS . For all the so called greatness of his team and the bravado, the wait for that first title goes on and Klopp has won ...NOT one single tiny little trophy. Haha. For all our ****ness (and make no mistake we are and have been really megashit) we have won the league cup, the FA cup and the Europa cup (which they all look up to these days). Some of the deluded RS have already been celebrating "their title" since the turn of the year and some had even declared the race over and then typically they lost a lead of 7 points. Some now has said that they've got the CL trophy in the bag. Oh yes? The RS never ****ing learn do they? Klopp has lost all his finals at the RS so why should this one be any different? All the lucky breaks they had in the league, the opposing GKs fumbling the goals into their own net. Fouls that were never fouls like the one at palace. They are begging for some of the same in the Final.

 

I think Ole needs to bring in players that will play for him as much as the club. If you look at Mourinho and LVG, how many players really believed in them and the football they prescribed? Very few.

Ole needs to have players believe in him and the style of football he wants. But that depends on whether he's good enough in the first place to show his philosophy works. That is what will enable players to believe in him. It's what sets a good manager apart from a poor one.

 

It’s why a technical director is so important, the club has to have its identity so that when we change managers we don’t need to swap the entire squad every time.

If Ole fails... the next bloke comes in and inherits a squad belonging to Man United not their own stupid ‘philosophy’.

 

That goes without saying. He needs to have a group of players willing to give their all to win for him.

All the expensive flops that have been brought in were not hungry to win things for the club. So when things go wrong they start looking away. When a new suitor expresses an interest they look up.

So we need top players who are hungry and willing to play for the manager. We need players who want to play for United. Not to pose or strut around. To work hard and to achieve things. Learn the lesson from De Pay. A talented footballer but the name of United just got to his head. He believed that he had achieved his personal ambition. That's it.
We need top quality hungry speedy players on the wings who can create chances even against packed defences. A mid table or low lying team had in the past feared to come to OT (just like they nowadays fear going to the Etihad). If we pass the ball in front of them like LVG did they will just sit back and hit us on the break.

And more than ever we need a DOF who will provide the continuity if/when OGS leaves and who can provide that expertise in recruitment and support to the manager.

 

Manchester United have reportedly beaten Liverpool and Everton to the signing of Isak Hansen-Aaroen. In-demand teenager Hansen-Aaroen has been pulling up trees and earning rave reviews for Tromso's youth sides for the last couple of years. Only 14 yrs old lol.

In other news... Declan Rice

Pellegrini claims that – even though the midfielder signed a new five-year deal earlier this season – it could be difficult to stop him from leaving the London Stadium.

The Hammers boss said: “It's impossible, I cannot know the future.

“He is, of course, a player who has had a brilliant season, who is 20-year old and an English player who has a lot of qualities.

“Maybe some of the big teams, or all of them, will want him.

“But that is one thing – the other is whether he will stay here or he goes, and I cannot say at this moment.