We are debt free in the sense that we don't owe money to outsiders...Katharina having guaranteed the loan we had. Remember that United are massively in debt. Owing money to the owner doesn't really count...like owing money to yourself...you are hardly likely to call it in.
And a large portion of that debt stems from the development of the training ground, which ultimately boosts the asset price...they're investments as much as debt. The beauty of a limited liability company though is that one can have it both ways...the business ultimately pays for those investments itself, you then reap the additional profits if the business is sold, and if they so choose the new owners (as with United) place the cost of the purchase on the business itself. So the business builds something, pays for it once then, and then effectively pays for it again when it buys itself on behalf of someone else. Corporations are weird.
I think we need quite an overhaul, to bring in pacier and more direct players. I don't expect it to happen in January, but would like to see "pace" being high on the agenda for all our summer targets. Under Poch, we were "progressive", being the first team to high press, but we were still very slow in attacking build ups. The last season, or two, has seen teams switch to a more direct attacking approach at pace, whilst we have dropped the high press and stuck, generally, with a slow build up. You only need to look at the league table to see that the pacey and more direct approach is paying dividends. Leicester, Palace, Everton plus the usual top teams (maybe not so much Utd) are all moving the ball forward at pace. And they are all doing it with more mobile strikers than Pelle. I have nothing against Pelle, but the era of football, in the EPL is moving away/has moved away from big target men to smaller more mobile front men, and we need to get with the programme, or risk getting left behind.
Amazing what one bad result does to people's heads. Before Wednesday's game we were being lauded across the land as having one of the most potent attacking trios in the land. Pelle is the fulcrum around which that's built. Just because that approach is different to other fashionable teams at the moment doesn't mean it's wrong. In fact our attack has worked pretty well. It's our defence that's been the issue this season. You can't get much pacier and more direct than Mane. And Long is pacy and direct. That doesn't translate to being a positive for us all the time.
I really can't be bothered to look but it would be interesting to see how many "we need to completely change..." posts follow a bad result or two. Vin
I think we do need to change..... ......our nappies. Good win on Saturday it'll all be consigned to the bin marked "Tranmere/Sheff Utd".
By the way, please don't take that as me saying people aren't "allowed" to complain (like I have that power!) Of course we can, it was ****. But I think perspective goes out the window a bit sometimes after defeats like this. On the other hand it's because people care, and it shows passion, so it's actually a good thing.
My reaction isn't because of one game, but what I have observed throughout the season. You will struggle to find many comments where I have been in anyway knee jerking, preferring to think my comments through, based on what I perceive to be true. In your comment you have identified exactly where we do have a problem. So many of our attacks go through the "fulcrum", that we can become quite impotent when he doesn't receive a decent service. Our opponents recognise this, and I expect more teams to play him, in the same manner as Liverpool did. Nearly every ball aimed at Pelle, had to go to his head, which he isn't that great with, when it comes to playing others in. Now, if you put the ball on his chest, he is a much better player, but Liverpool cut this supply off by having a defensive midfielder in front of him, virtually every time we were launching the ball up to him, so any ball aimed towards his chest, was cut out. As I have said, I have nothing against Pelle, and he should remain an option, but in comparison to many other teams, he is one of the least likely "main" strikers, in the whole league, to create a chance for himself. Yes, Mane is quick, and Long, when he plays, but there is no pace from midfield, or anywhere else. All I am saying is this. I have no issue with RK preferring to play with a target man, but my preference would be for a quicker, more mobile striker who can't be so easily shut out of a game, by his supply being so easily cut off. In reality, our style of play hasn't changed since we were in League 1. Even the high press seasons had SRL as the target man, although he gave so much more to the team, than Pelle, through his ability to drop deep, or go wide, pick out passes and take a decent deadball. The game is evolving, and I seriously believe that we have to evolve with it, in order to stay in the top half.
2 wingers to allow us to mix it up. 1 cb so Caulker can go. Maybe 1 striker. Not replacing the first team just adding to it. We have had 3 bad results and that's it. But they have highlighted we haven't got enough players to change it up.
Agreed. However good you think our front three are, I think everyone would agree they'll have off days and our other options are quite limited at the moment. I also wouldn't mind getting another decent right back if one was available. Maybe on loan. That's not gonna happen though.
I would rather that the board stuck to their business plan and we spent a couple of seasons in mid-table than spend outside it. Unless it's for a pacy winger, obviously......
I think are front three can be very effective when they click. Of them, I think Pelle is limited as a player, Tadic is hugely talented but too inconsistent and Mane is the one who will go on and be a truly top player.
