The big picture: A breakdown of Liverpool's transfer-strategy and (dis)similarities to us

[ROFLUTION]

I thought a breakdown like this deserves a thread on its own. To watch and learn from what they've been through as we fare along a similar path.

I basically got curious as @JPRouve said the owners, FSG, weren't football people.

I decided to have an in-depth look at their decisions and what transfer-strategy Liverpool has had, and how much patience the fans have had.

I took a look at what transfers they've made since FSG entered in 2010 (October) when all was doom and gloom. It took a looong time to get to where they are now.

Here's the list of the most mention-worthy transfers with comments on each season:

10/11 - FSG takes over
FSG takes over in October. Hires Dalglish in January, as he's the popular choice of the fans (Woy out).

The club is in complete meltdown. This is probably not far from where United is at the moment.

They take chances in the transfer-market as the fans demand a new Torres, Carroll's the worst buy of the theirs, Suarez turns out great.

Spoiler: Transfers 10/11

In:
- Suarez (Ajax)
- Carroll (Newcastle)
- A young Shelvey (Charlton)

Out:
- Torres

11/12 - Dalglish the new messiah signs some downers. Fails.
Manager: Kenny Dalglish

An underwhelming transfer window, and the King Kenny ship is abandoned as they play quite crap and finish 8th. They win the league cup, their only trophy since 2005 till now, and lose the FA Cup against Chelsea.

Spoiler: Transfers 11/12

In:
- Henderson (
- Downing (Boro)
- Charlie Adam
- Coates
- Bellamy on a free from City

Out:
- Meireles
- Poulsen
- Loaned out Joe Messi Cole

12/13 - Patience and belief in an up and coming manager (Brenda)
Manager: Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers only manages to get them up by one place in the table and finishes 7th behind Everton

Spoiler: Transfers 12/13

In:
- Joe Allen
- Sturridge (Chelsea)
- Coutinho (Inter)
- Sahin (Real Madrid)
- Borini (Roma)

Out:
- Adam
- Aquilani
- Loaned out Carroll

13/14 - The almost season
The slipping season. Rodgers with the help of Suarez/Gerrard manages to get them far.

Rodgers takes Liverpool from 7th to almost 1st (Liverpool™). Pretty big achievement it has to be said.

Spoiler: Transfers 13/14

In:
- Aspas (Celta)
- Sakho (PSG)
- Mignolet (Sunderland)
- Luis Alberto (Sevilla)

Out:
- Candy Arroll
- Borini
- Downing
- Shelvey

14/15 - Belief in Rodgers goes down the drain
Can't hold on to Suarez any longer, which funds a big shopping spree / revamp.

Without star-man Suarez, and a lot of new players to integrate into the squad, Rodgers finishes 6th. A lot of pressure is building up, after Liverpool sees that they're capable of 2nd place.

Spoiler: Transfers 14/15

In:
- Lallana (Southampton)
- Markovic (Benfica)
- Lovren (Southampton)
- Balotelli (AC Milan). Completely forgot about this
- Moreno (Sevilla)
- Origi (Lille)
- Emre Can (Leverkusen)
- Lambert (Southampton)

Out:
- Sold Suarez
- Sold Agger

15/16 - Klopp signs. Long-term patience in a new system
Klopp signs in October. All players below are not Klopp signings, but signings in the summer under Brendan

Liverpool drops to 8th again, but go far in Europa League. Finishes 2nd to Sevilla. A lot of enthusiasm before the Europa League final, but a lot of disappointment from losing the final and missing out on CL. The team is playing entertaining football, which might keep the hopes and patience up.

Spoiler: Transfers 15/16

In:
- Benteke (Aston Villa) - 41m gbp
- Firmino (Hoffenheim)
- Ings (Burnley)
- Joe Gomez (Charlton)
- Milner (City)

Out:
- Sterling
- Borini
- Aspas

16/17 - Klopp "only" gets 4th despite of no European competitions. Patience is tested.
Klopp has time to put his mark on the team, and now it's time to put his mark on the transfers and squad

Out goes the deadwood, and technical players for Klopp's system are brought in. He's still hindered by a lack of budget for defence.
Liverpool finishes 4th. Not a lot going on despite not playing in Europe, goes out early in the FA Cup and reaches the semi final in the league cup to Southampton. Keeps patience in Klopp though. This could go both ways.

Spoiler: Transfers 16/17

In:
- Mane
- Wijnaldum
- Karius
- Klavan
- Matip

Out:
- Benteke
- Ibe
- Joe Allen
- Skrtel

17/18 - The system works and Salah fits perfectly
Salah is bought in the summer. Has his first great season.

Except from a 4-0 win against Arsenal, Liverpool lose a lot of points early on in the season, which makes them chase.
Loses 5-0 to City early on, but the club plays entertaining football and gathers pace again around November. Salah is playing great and Mané has developed into a key player.
Coutinho is sold and this funds other players. Liverpool's playing-style is demanding and players are close to adapting fully. They reach the final and lose to Real Madrid. A solid defence is finally on the verge with the signing of Van Dijk. Karius fecks it all up.

Spoiler: Transfers 17/18

In:
- Salah (Roma)
- Chamberlain (Arsenal)
- Van Dijk (Southampton)
- Robertson (Hull)

Out:
- Coutinho
- Sakho

18/19 - A full Klopp squad is built. Competing everywhere.
Klopp tries to adress the last problems of the squad:

Competes with City, a team with a much higher transfer-budget, probably will win CL, and are competing for Premier League down to the last day of the season.

Spoiler: Transfers 18/19

In:
- Alisson (Roma)
- Keita (Leipzig)
- Fabinho (Monaco)
- Shaqiri (Stoke)

Out:
- Solanke
- Karius
- Klavan
- Markovic
- Can

19/20:
- Probably buy some talents for competition, and a suiting partner for Van Dijk

Summary of their transfer-strategy and behaviour of the board.
Mainly due to being in a poor position transferwise and unable to compete with big clubs for top players, Liverpool in the early days of FSG, turn to buying up-and-coming talents from midtable clubs (Southampton/Hoffenheim) or clubs like Inter/Ajax as they don't have much choice. Some works well (Suarez) - Some goes horribly wrong (Carroll, Benteke, Balotelli). They take a lot of chances in that regard, as they probably have to.

They then hire Kenny Dalglish, which is the fan's choice. He's on holiday sipping margaritas, and is inexperienced - yet the fans want him. This marks a moment where the owners act based on what the fans want. Sort of like what we've done now with Solskjær.

It's then Rodgers turn, and the fans decide to have a bit of patience / try something new and talented. After taking Liverpool to 2nd, they then lose patience in Rodgers the season after. They finish 7th below Everton and the manager is no longer backed. Sacked early next season.

Klopp then enters. It takes some time to getting used to his new system of running and pressing and the fans are patient after many years of depression. The fanbase understand that success doesn't come overnight and long-term patience is required. Klopp actually still has a lot of players from old squads, who he still uses (Key players like Milner, Firmino, Lovren, Henderson, Coutinho are bought before him) so it's not like he's changed the whole squad (yet).

Klopp:
Klopp's squad sits on top of the previous transfer-strategy to buy up and coming talents, but he's finally putting his mark on the team after year 2 and 3.

He doesn't have a lot of primadonnas or overpaid stars to sort out when he enters the club (like us), but ships out Aspas, Borini, Benteke, etc as they're simply not good enough. One of the reasons why he doesn't have a lot of primadonnas to sort out is probably because Liverpool haven't bought a lot of players who's already been at the top and think very highly of themselves and are on huge wages. This is one of our current major problems, and why Solskjær starts off way worse than Kenny or Klopp. It's probably also a cause for concern for a future manager to take over Man Utd. It's a heavy process to ship out the deadwood at our club and start a new project - Klopp at least did not have this problem.

Klopp then gets nearly all of his transfers spot on. Mane, Salah, Wijnaldum, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Alisson. They fit his system. There's actually no waste of money at all, except maybe for Karius / Klavan, who were also bought because of not being able to get in better players / unable to compete in the market.

Then he fixes the last hurdles, by signing Alisson and creates some healthy competition in the squad. He's now able to win matches with patience due to the defence getting fixed.

Our case - why we are different
In our case with Solskjær, he enters our club at a point full of problems to sort out, and 1 year wont be enough to lay a solid foundation for any manager. We're in early days of rebuilding a solid platform here. Klopp didn't have a lot of overpaid players to ship out before starting a new project.

Contrary to Liverpool, our transfer targets fits certain criterias of marketability. That's never really the case with Liverpool's signings - they rarely buy old players or keep old players. They buy players on the verge of breaking through like Mane, Firmino, Salah, Van Dijk - Not marketable players like Dybala.

Current players like this would be Maddison, Richarlison, Sancho, etc. They've bought players who haven't achieved anything yet, and are hungry, but not for attention / big wages. Contrary to Liverpool, we have a bigger wallet, which also attracts other types of players. Liverpool are a bit more fast to ship them out though. Benteke (42m ) and Balotelli (20m ) are gone fast. Either loaned out or sold fast.

Also we probably still have a bigger pulling power commercially and a lot of players of the current generation has grown up watching Man Utd's success of the 90's / 00's.

Patience needed to build a strong platform
It's taken ages to ship out deadwood currently at our club. If we're not patient as fans and understand how long time it takes to sort out a mess like this, we'll sack Solskjær after 1 year, and then we're back to finding a new manager, who might not want Solskjær's transfers. That could be a lot of money wasted in a transfer-window if we're just trying to plaster it over (again) with big commercial names, who are not hungry anymore. It's pretty evident that we don't have hungry players or players with enough quality. The players Klopp has signed are hard-working and also very technical players who can play and press fast.

We're still at the stage where we have a Frankenstein of a team from Moyes, LVG and Mourinho.

The least we could do is have a transfer-strategy that fits more than the here and now manager, while we clear out the bad weed from the garden that creates a bad culture. One day we might get a Klopp, but even Klopp had a reasonable platform to start new from.

We're truly in deep trouble, that we can't fix in 1 or maybe even 2 years. We need to step back and look at the big picture

Thoughts?

 

[JPRouve]

Do you see Klopp's influence? To me it's obvious but maybe I'm imagining it.

 

[ROFLUTION]

I think this article is also worth mentioning, as Solskjær probably wants to move away from the big-name signings, and sign long-term talent.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...chester-united-transfer-news-targets-16241182

 

[ROFLUTION]

Do you see Klopp's influence? To me it's obvious but maybe I'm imagining it.

I definitely do. The biggest influence is that the players he buys are designed for the system. Wijnaldum is the perfect example. A technically gifted player who haven't been at a big club yet (still hungry), that can play fast and works a lot. This has also been the template of Mane, Salah and others. They're still on their way to the top as they enter Liverpool.

 

[roonster09]

Do you see Klopp's influence? To me it's obvious but maybe I'm imagining it.

It's obvious to me too. Not saying they aren't good players but they look better because of Klopp.

 

[ROFLUTION]

A lot of talk on this forum is also about Ed Woodward and his ability as a CEO.

At City and Liverpool, a lot of riddance of failed players is happening relatively fast if a player doesn't work out. This gives the chance to a new talent obviously.

Woodward shipped out Di Maria fast, but besides that, we are currently stuck or have been stuck with players like Darmian, Blind, Jones, Rojo, Bailly, Schweinsteiger, Matic, Young, etc. I'd even say we're a bit stuck with Pogba, as he's on and then off, and can't really be counted on. If he doesn't go this summer, we'll just have a half-arsed moody player to take care of next season. At Liverpool, this type of player - Balotelli - was quickly moved on.

That's a real difference to me, and also why Woodward is probably not the best man for his job. Does he fire/ship away players too late?

 

[JPRouve]

It's obvious to me too. Not saying they aren't good players but they look better because of Klopp.

If I'm not mistaken, none of his former players found success outside of Dortmund, he is the difference maker. My interpretation and it's also what was reported is that Klopp is aware of his limitations and assisted the club in building the structure that he needed which is close to what he had at Dortmund and Klopp is a manager that consistently build teams that are greater than the sum of its parts.

A lot of talk on this forum is also about Ed Woodward and his ability as a CEO.

At City and Liverpool, a lot of riddance of failed players is happening relatively fast if a player doesn't work out. This gives the chance to a new talent obviously.

Woodward shipped out Di Maria fast, but besides that, we are currently stuck or have been stuck with players like Darmian, Blind, Jones, Rojo, Bailly, Schweinsteiger, Matic, Young, etc. I'd even say we're a bit stuck with Pogba, as he's on and then off, and can't really be counted on. If he doesn't go this summer, we'll just have a half-arsed moody player to take care of next season. At Liverpool, this type of player - Balotelli - was quickly moved on.

That's a real difference to me, and also why Woodward is probably not the best man for his job. Does he fire/ship away players too late?

The question is whether the managers want these players sold, we seem to get rid of players quickly when they are actually unwanted. I genuinely believe that we hired liars.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

Thoughts?

Good summary. Another important factor that you did not mention is the importance of approach to how to play football and how relevant/effective this approach is in todays football.
Having an approach and following it long term will not automatically yield success. If we follow a "park the bus and counter approach", this will not be successful long term. First one would need to identify what types of styles are the most effective in current football? As i see it, it is being able to press high, keep possession and being able to attack against balanced defences. A mixture of Klopp and Guardiola.

Klopp adapted during his time at Liverpool, from being mainly a high pressing and quick counter team that we saw at Dortmund, to a more balanced mixture of possession and pressing high. They still struggle with how to unlock balanced defences sometimes, but the same issue is visible in all dominant teams in the world.

The big non-transfer related question for us should be: Are OGS and the coaching staff willing/able to coach a team to play this way, with a mix of high press and dominant in possession, but also able to unlock balanced defences? I think not. But as long as the players brought in are able to play high press and possession oriented football, then the consequences of him not working out will not be as problematic for the rebuilding as the previous managers have been.

 

[Pav1878]

Great summation of the situation.

Please take this research and present it under Woodward's nose.

 

[WolfInSharp'sClothing]

I think you're missing the changes behind the scenes that contributed to the failure of Rodgers and the success of Klopp.

FSG's transfer committee was massively criticised when they first came in. They wanted a Director of football to help bring everything together, but Rodgers was hugely against this and wanted sole control over who was brought in. When this led to a 'mixed bag' of signings between 2014 and 2015, Rodgers time was running out.

Klopp embraced the DoF route and Michael Edwards was soon promoted to this role to work with Klopp and the transfer committee. Since then, most of their signings have been absolutely bang on the money.

Man City run a similar model too and most of their signings work out.

It's not rocket science.

 

[charlenefan]

Great OP

What I took from it though is it wasn't until they got a top (forward thinking) manager (Klopp) did they start to make smart signings (a few exceptions here and there before that) so I guess there's nothing radical there really - good manager makes good signings shock horror

To compare it to our current situation is that we don't know if we have a top manager (likelihood is we don't) so we don't know if our fortunes will improve after this summer or not

 

[Matt007a]

Nice post. I think I'd like to see us doing the same with regards to the type of players we are signing.

Instead of signing players like Dybala or Bale or whoever else we are supposedly linked to, we should be targeting players who are just below the top level but are still improving. They'll have more hunger, more to prove and demand less money. We seem to have a massive problem with attitude and work ethic at the minute. Let's not replace egos with egos.

Look at what our rivals are doing. How often do City or Liverpool sign a player who is already world class? Aguero, Silva x2, De Bruyne, Sterling, Mane, Salah, Van Dijk etc were all players who were on the verge of being top players. None of them were in the top bracket when they signed, but so many of them were within 1-2 years of joining. SAF had the same idea. Rio, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Ronaldo, Anderson, Rooney, Tevez etc were all young and all one or two levels below world class when we signed them.

On top of that, the fact we're a club in decline who don't have CL football means we are more likely to have to shop in the 2nd tier market.

 

[RoadTrip]

Interesting read.

I must admit, one thing that struck me was that actually, the signings under Rodgers were actually very good. A lot of their booms cane from there. Some busts too, obviously, but as you’d expect.

This tells me that they have proper support and structure and foundations for signings which identifies talent regardless of who is manager.

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

Thanks for taking the time to do it, now send it to the club.

 

[MoskvaRed]

When comparing United and Liverpool (and particularly their owners), what is noticeable is that, while it has been a bumpy road at times, Liverpool under FSG seem to have been learning from their mistakes (the sentimental appointment of Dalglish as permanent manager, unfocused transfer splurges from sale procceds on Carroll and Benteke).

United under Woodward on the other hand seem to be going round in circles and, in year 6 of post-SAF, have just made their own sentimental appointment of a club legend. Like the Bourbons, Ed had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.

 

[roonster09]

Interesting read.

I must admit, one thing that struck me was that actually, the signings under Rodgers were actually very good. A lot of their booms cane from there. Some busts too, obviously, but as you’d expect.

This tells me that they have proper support and structure and foundations for signings which identifies talent regardless of who is manager.

Signing good players means nothing if you can't get best out of them. That's on coach.

Under Rodgers they signed few good players but they reached different level under Klopp.

 

[JPRouve]

Interesting read.

I must admit, one thing that struck me was that actually, the signings under Rodgers were actually very good. A lot of their booms cane from there. Some busts too, obviously, but as you’d expect.

This tells me that they have proper support and structure and foundations for signings which identifies talent regardless of who is manager.

No team at the top of PL is full of bad players. Mourinho and LVG signed good players for the most part, the issue is that these players didn't had good coaching or coaches that actually fitted them.

 

[CognitiveNeuro]

Liverpool's success in the transfer window is simply because of Klopp.
Klopp has developed and improved every single player he had to work with. He literally hasn't had a bad buy ever since he came to Liverpool except maybe Karius.

He's also taken youngsters and improved them immeasurably. Look at TAA and Gomez. Basically a transfer committee can sign any player that works in his system and Klopp will make sure they don't turn it into duds. For example, Klopp didn't originally want Salah. He originally wanted Brandt. Michael Edwards pushed for Salah and look how that turned out.

He's taken free signings like Matip and Wolfsburg rejects like Origi and made them into world beaters.

It's one of the things that separate Klopp and Guardiola from the rest.

 

[RoadTrip]

Signing good players means nothing if you can't get best out of them. That's on coach.

Under Rodgers they signed few good players but they reached different level under Klopp.

No team at the top of PL is full of bad players. Mourinho and LVG signed good players for the most part, the issue is that these players didn't had good coaching or coaches that actually fitted them.

I don’t disagree with this. It’s quite obvious that Klopp is getting the very best out of every player. Not sure why you both took it as otherwise.

 

[Adisa]

Liverpool have the second best manager in the world. Yes, they've done some good work but that's the biggest reason.

 

[MoskvaRed]

Liverpool have the second best manager in the world. Yes, they've done some good work but that's the biggest reason.

Klopp is very good indeed but would he succeed at United in its current form?

 

[ROFLUTION]

Another thing that is striking is that it doesn't seem too hard to replace the good players. Mané was establishing as a key-player, hence it was easier to let Countinho go, but it's also apparent when watching yesterday's match - Origi slotted right in. Same type of player.

At United we got Lukaku - and his replacement is a totally different type of player, which makes demands of the rest of the team as they now have to be able to play in two ways.

I don't think it's as easy as to say "Klopp is the best manager, and that's why they have success". Clearly there's a strategy, setup and certain player-types behind it too that suits him well.

 

[Casanova85]

This only reinforces my idea that Liverpool will "sink" like a stone to the "Top3-7 contenders" zone once Klopp leaves. But when the feck?

Pep and Klopp at the helm of City and Pool are the main problem for United and Chelsea.

 

[ROFLUTION]

This only reinforces my idea that Liverpool will "sink" like a stone to the "Top3-7 contenders" zone once Klopp leaves. But when the feck?

Pep and Klopp at the helm of City and Pool are the main problem for United and Chelsea.

I don't think that's the outtake and necessarily true. All the players they have fit a modern system, which a new manager would also be able to overtake.

Might not be as good managers as them, but still the system behind it is easy to build on as manager.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Klopp is very good indeed but would he succeed at United in its current form?

Don't think his football would do wonders with us using our current squad. I think he could probably use our midfield and defense well enough if he could get Pogba to work harder. Our attack would just not press good enough for him nor have the attack quality to win games. If he could bring in 2-3 attackers to us then it would make a big difference.

 

[JPRouve]

Klopp is very good indeed but would he succeed at United in its current form?

Would United have its current form with Klopp? I'm pretty sure that he would have supported a different structure and targeted different players because that's pretty much what he did with Liverpool.

 

[MoskvaRed]

Would United have its current form with Klopp? I'm pretty sure that he would have supported a different structure and targeted different players because that's pretty much what he did with Liverpool.

Yes, which is probably why he smelt a rat with Ed’s Disneyland comment.

 

[Zlatattack]

We're not in a bad a state as we think. There is no reason we can't be competitive for the title in 20/21, but we need to be ruthless. People joke about ten in and ten out, but it would improve us massively, and then another decent summer and we could have the right personnel in place. Don't underestimate the value of moving players on. I'd rather have an empty shirt than Sanchez.

It's up to Ole now to prove he has a system and he can build for it.

 

[andyish]

Superb summary, clearly a lot of effort went into that.

I’d say that FSG took over, appointed someone that got the fans onside instantly.

When that went south we went for an up and comer in not an entirely different mould to Klopp, but for my take arrogance got the better of him - he never recovered from trying to beat his old mentor on the way to the title when all we needed to do was play out a 0-0!

Finally went for Jurgen, not really a risk if prepared to be patient and spend a bit of cash - which the obviously were.

Dividends now being paid.

A LOT of pain in the Pre FSG years, I’m not sure there’s a direct model for other clubs to follow other than a clear plan and patience!

 

[JPRouve]

Yes, which is probably why he smelt a rat with Ed’s Disneyland comment.

I find this reference so weird because it's meaningless. The quote is about Old Trafford, who is by the way referred to as the Theater of Dreams. Now these types of meetings are generally cringeworthy and full of buzzwords, in our case Woodward at some points allegedly described Old Trafford as a Disneyland for adults where entertainment is world class and dreams become true. Now Klopp will never share the cringeworthy quotes that Liverpool uttered, probably to the tune of our fan base will always support you and you will never walk alone but I'm pretty sure that there where some other gems in all the meetings that he had with clubs, it's always the case.

 

[charlenefan]

When comparing United and Liverpool (and particularly their owners), what is noticeable is that, while it has been a bumpy road at times, Liverpool under FSG seem to have been learning from their mistakes (the sentimental appointment of Dalglish as permanent manager, unfocused transfer splurges from sale procceds on Carroll and Benteke).

United under Woodward on the other hand seem to be going round in circles and, in year 6 of post-SAF, have just made their own sentimental appointment of a club legend. Like the Bourbons, Ed had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.

Yeah we're definitely at the Dalglish part of the Liverpool cycle

 

[Klopper76]

FSG have received a lot of criticism from Liverpool fans since they bought the club. Some of it has been fair but they've shown that they're willing to back our manager in the market and their transfer strategy seems to be working.

I think for them consistent CL qualification is the main objective because it gives them huge returns on their investment, and allows further spending on the club and it's infrastructure. Klopp's about to deliver his third successive season of qualification for that competition so they'll be delighted.

They've done quite well to manage our wage structure as well. It's never been allowed to expand beyond the limits they've placed on it.

Klopp & FSG has worked well for the club so far. Klopp knows who he wants and FSG are willing to back him with the money he needs.

 

[MoskvaRed]

I find this reference so weird because it's meaningless. The quote is about Old Trafford, who is by the way referred to as the Theater of Dreams. Now these types of meetings are generally cringeworthy and full of buzzwords, in our case Woodward at some points allegedly described Old Trafford as a Disneyland for adults where entertainment is world class and dreams become true. Now Klopp will never share the cringeworthy quotes that Liverpool uttered, probably to the tune of our fan base will always support you and you will never walk alone but I'm pretty sure that there where some other gems in all the meetings that he had with clubs, it's always the case.

It has become shorthand for Ed’s superficial, bungling approach - buying glitzy big name misfits on the basis of social media hits while the squad rots and the stadium roof leaks.

 

[charlenefan]

I find this reference so weird because it's meaningless. The quote is about Old Trafford, who is by the way referred to as the Theater of Dreams. Now these types of meetings are generally cringeworthy and full of buzzwords, in our case Woodward at some points allegedly described Old Trafford as a Disneyland for adults where entertainment is world class and dreams become true. Now Klopp will never share the cringeworthy quotes that Liverpool uttered, probably to the tune of our fan base will always support you and you will never walk alone but I'm pretty sure that there where some other gems in all the meetings that he had with clubs, it's always the case.

Wasn't the adult Disneyland in reference to the money available to spend?

 

[Skills]

It has become shorthand for Ed’s superficial, bungling approach - buying glitzy big name misfits on the basis of social media hits while the squad rots and the stadium roof leaks.

We already know there's enough wrong without needing people like you peddling lies.

 

[Irwin99]

A good read. It amazes me how many signings they've bought recently from 'lower' teams that have turned out to be big hits, yet when we try this we end up with a Morgan Schneiderlin or a Phil Jones, both at various times had shown a lot of promise and potential at their former clubs but have flopped here. We have to get these kind of signings right in the future.

 

[bosnian_red]

Klopp is very good indeed but would he succeed at United in its current form?

Yes because he would know how to build what he needs and know which players to target and how to coach them for his style. It would take time, like with any manager, but Klopp and Guardiola are guaranteed successes wherever they go (provided the club does spend what it needs to do) more than any other manager because not only are they proven to succeed at multiple clubs with results, they also do so playing great football. Mourinho had great results over the years, but was known for negative football. He was known for being miserable, for causing problems, and he was known as a short term manager. Klopp and Pep build great teams and the way they play lasts long after they leave.

 

[JPRouve]

Wasn't the adult Disneyland in reference to the money available to spend?

No, it's in reference to Old Trafford as a place where people come to be entertained.

https://www.the42.ie/man-utd-klopp-disneyland-3693210-Nov2017/

 

[7even]

It’s simple to say but our manager has to be ruthless with getting rid of the bad apples. That’s step one for any organization who wants to rebuild and create a positive environment. If that means we have to sell our best players then so be it. It’s a hard pill to swallow to rip a team apart and short term eventually lose quality and competitiveness but the longer we wait the longer it takes. This mission will probably be Solskjaer’s hardest test to see if he’s qualified to manage a club of this size.

 

[Dolf]

Does Ole even have a system? If so, what players would be perfect for him?