I called for the manager to be sacked last year after the first City match. It was poor then. This second half was even worse if that’s possible. They stopped playing, stopped running, stopped tackling, stopped trying. Unforgivable. I said at the time the players had to take responsibility and this has confirmed it. United has been unmanageable since Fergie left (I’ve been shouted down for this) but the whole structure from the very top needs to be looked at for Utd to make any improvement. Forget about Ten Haag, Pochetino, Enrique, or any other fancy manager. It will take another 2 decades to get a top team again.
This is true, but he's had an intimate involvement in forging them into one of the best teams on the planet. You lot used to know what that felt like. How long before you get that feeling back again? Could be a little while
This is totally bogus! Why should it take twenty years to challenge for the title? Because it happened to Liverpool? Success or failure in years to come will be dictated by dedication to fixing the structure at the club. If the structure is brought to modern day club, along with resources at the club, the rest will eventually fall into place. We should snatch Tuchel from Chelsea!
To be fair Christian's post was straight after the City game and that sentiment was understandable because watching that shambles in the 2nd half it felt like another bloody 20 years before we'd win anything! 8 months ago we all felt we were close. These things can change so quickly and it can all change again IF we get ALL the appointments/signings/departures right over the summer. They've had 6 months and got another 3 to really plan ahead properly. AND also Woodward the fanboy has fcked off. Surely... SURELY they can't fck it up again this time.
We're all sitting here applying some form of actual logic to what the club should do, if the new director is likewise everything should go well, as we have everything in place to carry out the plan. But if he's another Woodward anything could happen and it could be more than twenty years. Reality is we should be looking to win the league again in four or five years time. Do as we've all stated, get rid of some cancer and use some home grown players, and buy a few finished article players to supplement that. First step of course is employ the right manager.
Two decades is a long time but then one decade is already gone since Fergie left. Did anyone even think we would be so non competitive for so long after he left? I said just after Fergie left that we will face some very uncertain times and that we would have to spend > 300m to get a competitive team. Some here scoffed and said this was ridiculously pessimistic. This has been worse than even I thought it could be. I thought 3-5 years of turmoil would be followed by some stability. But I reckoned without the total incompetence of Woodward and his cronies who ****ed up every possible aspect of the footballing side. Huge amounts have been and are still squandered on players and managers who don’t improve the side. The sense of deja-vu is so awry. It was similar when Busby retired. The club drifted rudderless. There was apparently a keenness for the same to be avoided. But low and behold the same thing is happening.
The ones who scoffed are long since gone though; the UIR's and Swarbs of this world who were calling for Moyes's dismissal because he had a title winning team, and so should just win the title again. Which is so dismissive of what Fergie did It's beyond belief. It's as if these people thought the manager was irrelevant The cracks were obvious, the impact the Glazers had made was obvious. Sadly, the likes of Woodward also thought the manager was irrelevant, so just bought loads of 'star' players, which Fergie would never have done. Well it was to me (and you, of course) and the Busby leaving effect was referenced many times. We can't have a repeat.
The GGs and Woodward prioritised the financial position above everything else. The irony is that the footballing success under Fergie built that financial power. Which increasingly became an end in itself. Woodward and the GGs were maximising the revenue and the profits and the dividends. The GGs had already taken more than 1 billion from the club. Sure that didn’t affect the spending budgets of the club but it explains why the title or the best manager were never their priority. Because being in the CL was more important than winning the title. Financially being champions mean only a few millions more than 4th place. That’s why I think that unless the culture and priorities change at the club, we’ll always struggle to win the title. Why do you think that the GGs loved OGS when he got 2nd and 3rd but sacked him as soon as the CL was in danger?
I think that “the when” we become competitive for the title again is arbitrary. That’s why I don’t think that it’s important to even talk about title being decades out. Sure, if we don’t learn from the last decade and do things exactly the same in the next two decades, it is likely that the result will be failure year after year. Also, sooner or later, City will decline. Age, change of management, etc. If Manchester United can execute against a well structured plan as we have theoretically talked about here, I think things can really work out in a number of years. However, we are still a case of “show me” right now which nullifies everything that I’ve just said.
All we can reasonably expect is a competitive team playing good winning football which would provide CL football on a regular basis given the finances at our disposal. No more squandering of huge amounts on players for no benefit whatsoever. The ability to compete with the best teams around and not to fold easily.
The idea that it could be decades isn’t far fetched. To get a good title winning team depends on so many things coming together as well as an element of luck. The RS had to wait more than 30 years when their fans thought they would return to the top within a few years. It wasn’t for want of trying on their part. No one is entitled to win even as the so called biggest club. Chelsea and City stirred the pot. They had no limit on their spend and even the FFP couldn’t stop them. Yes we spent big too but the executive always had a look on the finance and the marketing. The owners of Chelsea and City wanted titles as their objectives and never had an eye on profits and dividends.
Probably already been said on here but from outside you need to decide who you think is the manager who can restore you here you want to be and have the faith in him to let him decide all football matters . That faith needs to be kept so he has the time to rebuild the football side in his vision and if you chose right at the very least you will be fully challenging again . obviously hopefully none of the above happens or even better you pick an absolute dud and give him 4 years he has you battling with Everton for 18th .
Absolutely this but before that can happen we have to decide on the identity and style of football we want for the club. Then decide on the manager who can deliver it. I can see what Rangnick is trying to do and the direction he's taking the football. If he's setting some marker and there's a consensus between him, Murtough and Arnold that's the style and direction we want then the next manager has to have the same footballing brain. Which tbh puts Ten Hag as the favourite. Then give the 4 of them time to develop the squad to deliver it.
half and half i'd say in that you can't pick a manager which totally doesn't fit the club ethos but if their is a manager out there who you the club thinks can put you back on your ****ing perch you need have to buy into them even if it is a change of direction , not like you haven't had a few of them as late , and fully support them and their vision .
The problem is the way they go about it. If it's more of the same... buying big names and expecting it all to come good whilst playing turgid, thick pea soup footy then it will fail. There's no longevity there. What's promising is that Woodward's fcked off and he drove that bullshit mentality whilst some of our recent managers either supported or went along with it. We also finally have a DOF (woohoo) so manager and player recruitment will be based on footballing decision rather than a fanboy's whim and shirt sales.
well quite that is why you need to pick someone with a plan / vision and stick with them . As an aside i see lots of chat about who you should buy where as i think part of your problem is your swollen squad which leaves significant number of players just sitting on their arse for a couple of seasons or so it seems as i seriously was amazed when Mata came on in a game i saw about a month ago as i assumed he had left / retired .
Nah Utd fans all know Mata's still there Tbf I've never begrudged him being there. He's a consummate professional. But yeh he'll defo be going in the summer. The squad is far too heavy with dead wood or wasters or players that simply aren't good enough. Lingard, Lindelof, Matic, Martial, Pogba, Jones, Mata, and probably Bailly. And it's pretty much a banker Cavani will be gone as well. Tbh I wouldn't shed a tear if we dumped Maguire. Btw we trim our squad, it's not just about buying new players. If we don't have CL footy to worry about, we bring through some of our U21's as well. There's some gems there.
