Di Marzio: Javier Ribalta (Juventus scouting manager) to Man Utd

ilovethisgameahahah

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That's interesting, got any article on that?
Nope, i don't even remember if i read it or heard it. Have a feeling it was from Howson in one of his academy videos but i'm not 100%.

There were also stories that Mourinho didn't trust the scout suggestions much and went with information from his own network plus research he did while unemployed. If anything, that sounds to me like someone who wants a lot of input in the transfer process not to wash his hands of it.

I highly doubt Mourinho will change from giving an extensive list of options one season to just the player profile the next. What we do need is someone who can offer a different point of view to the manager because Woodward himself can't provide one. Hopefully Ribalta gives us that.
Obvioulsy he'll still have a ton of imput and the final say. I just can't see Mourinho spending much time at all scouting players anymore and a scouting manager will be a great way for him to delegate some of his responsibility. He has never had this much to do and whilst he probably relishes it to an extent, a bit of help couldn't hurt. He only starts kicking off when the final say is taken away from him i.e Perez at Madrid and Emanalo at Chelsea.
 

Jazz

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Excited about this. Hope it gets confirmed soon.
 

Dembeza

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Excited about this. Hope it gets confirmed soon.
Do we do official confirmation as a club?

I remember alot of scouts that we signed but I'm yet to see an official confirmation by the club.
 

SaboTaj

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There were stories that our scouts were left a bit bewildered last season after Mourinho didn't speak to them, even once. Hiring a man like Ribalta suggests a move towards a more DOF based system but with Mourinho still having the last say. If i had to guess how it will work i think Mourinho will tell Ribalta a profile of player he wants and Ribalta and his scouts will do the rest.

Looks to be a move in the right direction regardless of how it will work. Having a manager do it all on the pitch and in the market is a thing that is best left in the past.
There were also stories that Mourinho didn't trust the scout suggestions much and went with information from his own network plus research he did while unemployed. If anything, that sounds to me like someone who wants a lot of input in the transfer process not to wash his hands of it.

I highly doubt Mourinho will change from giving an extensive list of options one season to just the player profile the next. What we do need is someone who can offer a different point of view to the manager because Woodward himself can't provide one. Hopefully Ribalta gives us that.
This sounds like Billy Beane from Moneyball.
 

itso 7

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There were also stories that Mourinho didn't trust the scout suggestions much and went with information from his own network plus research he did while unemployed. If anything, that sounds to me like someone who wants a lot of input in the transfer process not to wash his hands of it.

I highly doubt Mourinho will change from giving an extensive list of options one season to just the player profile the next. What we do need is someone who can offer a different point of view to the manager because Woodward himself can't provide one. Hopefully Ribalta gives us that.
Isn't that sowing seeds of a power struggke between manager and whatever his post is going to be? I do understand and appreciate the need to reduce the burden and power of the manager though and its something we should have done the day Sir Alex called it a day. If you look at Chelsea, Bayern and Juve you can see the benefits of having a proper football structure in place and making the manager just a cog of a working system not the architect and engine of that system - if you are going for a manager centric system then its sensible to be a bit more patient with them re results because you cant be rebuilding every other season.
 

cyberman

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Sign established old players on the cheap and the best talent in Italian football outside of Roma.
Boom. I'm Juve's chief scout.
 

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Isn't that sowing seeds of a power struggke between manager and whatever his post is going to be? I do understand and appreciate the need to reduce the burden and power of the manager though and its something we should have done the day Sir Alex called it a day. If you look at Chelsea, Bayern and Juve you can see the benefits of having a proper football structure in place and making the manager just a cog of a working system not the architect and engine of that system - if you are going for a manager centric system then its sensible to be a bit more patient with them re results because you cant be rebuilding every other season.
I don't want a power struggle but with Sir Alex we always had a chairman/CEO who knew football, and Woodward doesn't provide that. Plus Sir Alex was a genius and we can't bank on every managerial appointment turning out that well. Someone needs to be there to provide an alternate point of view, just to prevent crazy things like passing on Thiago and Kroos while signing Fellaini. Doesn't have to be a DoF type role who hires/fires managers and also interferes in tactics.
 

ravelston

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I don't want a power struggle but with Sir Alex we always had a chairman/CEO who knew football, and Woodward doesn't provide that. Plus Sir Alex was a genius and we can't bank on every managerial appointment turning out that well. Someone needs to be there to provide an alternate point of view, just to prevent crazy things like passing on Thiago and Kroos while signing Fellaini. Doesn't have to be a DoF type role who hires/fires managers and also interferes in tactics.
David Gill was an accountant who'd worked at a football club for 6 years when he took over from Kenyon. Woodward was an investment banker who'd worked at a football club for 8 years when he took over from Gill. Why would Woodward know less about football than Gill did when he took over?
 

whatwha

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I wonder When is he going to start and will it be in time to hit the ground running to help in this transfer window
The guy had best cancel whatever summer holiday plans he had, the transfer muppets hungry! ;)
 

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David Gill was an accountant who'd worked at a football club for 6 years when he took over from Kenyon. Woodward was an investment banker who'd worked at a football club for 8 years when he took over from Gill. Why would Woodward know less about football than Gill did when he took over?
Not as a result of his profession, certainly, but Gill never seemed to be out of his depth like Woodward did at the beginning. Maybe because he had Sir Alex while Ed had Moyes.
 

Jazz

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Do we do official confirmation as a club?

I remember alot of scouts that we signed but I'm yet to see an official confirmation by the club.
Don't know to be honest. I guess it would be good to get some solid confirmation though before I start dreaming of us having a competent person to assist with transfers instead of leaving it to Jose and Mr 'corporate guy' Woody.
 

Jonnymufc

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Think this is a great move as Juve frequently seem to pick up great quality players for relatively little. However, why now? Surely should have been snapped early in the year so he could get ready for this window? Can't see him having much influence until Jan at the earliest now.
 

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Think this is a great move as Juve frequently seem to pick up great quality players for relatively little. However, why now? Surely should have been snapped early in the year so he could get ready for this window? Can't see him having much influence until Jan at the earliest now.
These sorts of roles don't usually leave during the season.
 

Jonnymufc

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These sorts of roles don't usually leave during the season.
Well ok but we're now in early July and he hasn't been confirmed (afaik) so will be too late to make any progress this window I'd imagine. That is unless we've had him secretly beavering away on targets. Seems unlikely though.
 

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Well ok but we're now in early July and he hasn't been confirmed (afaik) so will be too late to make any progress this window I'd imagine. That is unless we've had him secretly beavering away on targets. Seems unlikely though.
Juventus are reportedly after Douglas Costa, Bernardeschi, N'Zonzi, Danilo, Aurier - presumably acting on Ribalta's past recommendation.
 

Jonnymufc

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Juventus are reportedly after Douglas Costa, Bernardeschi, N'Zonzi, Danilo, Aurier - presumably acting on Ribalta's recommendation.
Could well be. I suppose on reflection he might have simply had to run to the end of his contract. In any case, I'm pleased with bringing him in. Feel we need someone constantly working on picking up the next great players before they cost £80m. Maybe even making a few acquisitions to sell on later, Chelsea-style.
 

Damien

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Well ok but we're now in early July and he hasn't been confirmed (afaik) so will be too late to make any progress this window I'd imagine. That is unless we've had him secretly beavering away on targets. Seems unlikely though.
If you're expecting a confirmation from the club website/twitter I think you'll be disappointed. Don't think it is the type of thing we announce as he wouldn't exactly be a member of coaching staff.

Juventus confirmed he left to go elsewhere so I assume he's in place already... unless he gets a similar sort of contracts to players and he couldn't officially start his job here until after 1st July.

In terms of progress this window, he'd have a list to work from. He should be able to make the Morata transfer smoother at least.

In future windows it'll probably be more of a shared role with Ribalta recommending targets.
 

Oneunited26

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Think this is a great move as Juve frequently seem to pick up great quality players for relatively little. However, why now? Surely should have been snapped early in the year so he could get ready for this window? Can't see him having much influence until Jan at the earliest now.
With the recent bleeding dry prices chelsea and inter want for ageing players, think we need a structure in place to start finding good players which hopefully this is a start, because the prices currently there needs to be a scouting network in place to find the gems
 

Jonnymufc

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With the recent bleeding dry prices chelsea and inter want for ageing players, think we need a structure in place to start finding good players which hopefully this is a start, because the prices currently there needs to be a scouting network in place to find the gems
Absolutely agree. I think overall it's a very good move for the club, I just question why we didn't have him fully ready for this window as I think it's vitally important for us.
 

Mr.Ridiculous__

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So what would be his exact role at the club? Chief scout or Director of Football, or something in between?
 

ti vu

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So what would be his exact role at the club? Chief scout or Director of Football, or something in between?
Sound like in between. Not that influential in building the style of play, direction like DoF, but not mere chief scout working on players' profile since he took part in helping players to settle (Morata)

I don't want a power struggle but with Sir Alex we always had a chairman/CEO who knew football, and Woodward doesn't provide that. Plus Sir Alex was a genius and we can't bank on every managerial appointment turning out that well. Someone needs to be there to provide an alternate point of view, just to prevent crazy things like passing on Thiago and Kroos while signing Fellaini. Doesn't have to be a DoF type role who hires/fires managers and also interferes in tactics.
I think you mistook that Gill had that much to help SAF in scouting & offering another alternative. SAF had his brother as chief scout. So in a sense this scout manager role did exist with us. Just that, to build the trust between the manager & this scout manager is difficult.

In our current situation, I hope whoever being appointed should be with Mourinho's full consent.
 
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sglowrider

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David Gill was an accountant who'd worked at a football club for 6 years when he took over from Kenyon. Woodward was an investment banker who'd worked at a football club for 8 years when he took over from Gill. Why would Woodward know less about football than Gill did when he took over?
You are more granular as a chartered accountant versus a more sales-centric investment banker role. So Gill was more trained to look at how the entire company is run versus an investment banker.
 

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If you're expecting a confirmation from the club website/twitter I think you'll be disappointed. Don't think it is the type of thing we announce as he wouldn't exactly be a member of coaching staff.

Juventus confirmed he left to go elsewhere so I assume he's in place already... unless he gets a similar sort of contracts to players and he couldn't officially start his job here until after 1st July.

In terms of progress this window, he'd have a list to work from. He should be able to make the Morata transfer smoother at least.

In future windows it'll probably be more of a shared role with Ribalta recommending targets.
Any chance he is negotating transfer deals alone, since Ed is away?
 

InfiniteBoredom

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You are more granular as a chartered accountant versus a more sales-centric investment banker role. So Gill was more trained to look at how the entire company is run versus an investment banker.
Ed was an accountant, for 6 years at least. I doubt he is any less qualified than Gill.
 

wolvored

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Not as a result of his profession, certainly, but Gill never seemed to be out of his depth like Woodward did at the beginning. Maybe because he had Sir Alex while Ed had Moyes.
That had a lot to do with it, plus following Kenyon who was seen as a pariah and a continuing winning team so the pressure would of been a lot less
 

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Doesn't look like he has had any influence of our business so far. We know the targets were in place already but would be good if he had some primary targets or even alternatives to help us out. He would have been working on a list for Juve up until he left so it's not like he's starting from scratch.
 

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Doesn't look like he has had any influence of our business so far. We know the targets were in place already but would be good if he had some primary targets or even alternatives to help us out. He would have been working on a list for Juve up until he left so it's not like he's starting from scratch.
Though saying that, the reason he probably did his job so well at inter, was because he understood what his club needed; his targets he worked on scouting may not be universal when it comes to working in different leagues/teams.
 

EyeInTheSky

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Though saying that, the reason he probably did his job so well at inter, was because he understood what his club needed; his targets he worked on scouting may not be universal when it comes to working in different leagues/teams.
Wasn't it Juventus he came from?

He would know players who could play DM which is universal position and not Unique
 

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It might take a year for ribalta's contacts to come into effect. Imagine a lot of his targets will have already agreed to move to other clubs.
 

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What were you expecting, really? :lol: He was a clog in the scouting chain, not Paratici. :rolleyes: He will do a good job in replicating the chain and deploying a network of scouts, I think, but time is needed and there is no magic wand.
 

SwansonsTache

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What were you expecting, really? :lol: He was a clog in the scouting chain, not Paratici. :rolleyes: He will do a good job in replicating the chain and deploying a network of scouts, I think, but time is needed and there is no magic wand.
We were expecting the next Dybala by now.

If this clown can't deliver I say we sack him and give it to Giggs until the end of the season.