Gary Neville gives passionate must-watch analysis of Man United's problems | MNF

Mainoldo

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With 30m£? Umtiti, Hummels, Sule, Lenglet, Skriniar and others.
So Mr Mourinho should have told him instead of blowing £30m on Bailly get Skriniar. Then even if Bailly ended up being a mistake. The season after tell him instead of blowing £30m on Lindelöf get me Sule.

But he never and if he did Woodward obviously didn’t listen because Bailly and Lindelöf clearly are bigger commercial signings.... even though half of us didn’t have a clue who they were.
 

Dutsey

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Lets get this right Real and Barcelona were only ever dominant due to Messi and Ronaldo. Nothing more. Now these players are getting older it was never sustainable.
 

Mainoldo

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Lets get this right Real and Barcelona were only ever dominant due to Messi and Ronaldo. Nothing more. Now these players are getting older it was never sustainable.
Preach!! But they’ll tell us there structure is amazing....
 

Skills

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So Mr Mourinho should have told him instead of blowing £30m on Bailly get Skriniar. Then even if Bailly ended up being a mistake. The season after tell him instead of blowing £30m on Lindelöf get me Sule.

But he never and if he did Woodward obviously didn’t listen because Bailly and Lindelöf clearly are bigger commercial signings.... even though half of us didn’t have a clue who they were.
This.
 

JPRouve

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So Mr Mourinho should have told him instead of blowing £30m on Bailly get Skriniar. Then even if Bailly ended up being a mistake. The season after tell him instead of blowing £30m on Lindelöf get me Sule.

But he never and if he did Woodward obviously didn’t listen because Bailly and Lindelöf clearly are bigger commercial signings.... even though half of us didn’t have a clue who they were.
Which is why I don't believe the first choice or marketability arguments, most of our signings are absolutely not marketable and they weren't highly visible either because playing for relatively anonymous clubs for the general public. The one player that is particularly marketable is Pogba but we shouldn't pretend that he was signed for commercial reasons when a large part of the forum was calling him world class and the best all round midfielder in the world. Ibrahimovic was clearly signed for Mourinho, as was Matic and then we have Sanchez, he has been one of the best players in the PL in the years preceding his move, people thought that he was only down tooling because Arsenal were unambitious and now people pretend that he was signed for commercial reasons.

I don't think that Mourinho needs excuses for these moves even if they haven't been successes, these 4 players made sense at the time and sometimes you just have to take it on the chin and move on. It's the anonymous moves that are problematic and the lack of improvement through coaching.
 

The Boy

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Good points but answer me this. Is Ed Woodward the only guy to fail at transfers? Did David Gill not fail at transfers.. if we took Fergie away we would have been crap for years because after selling Ronaldo and whilst having Ronaldo. We failed to land Aguero, David Silva, then onto Hazard, Lucus Moura, Sami Nasri, Hummels who you’ve mentioned already. Like this happens in football. I have no problem blaming the board we just blame them for the wrong thing and scratch our heads to why we don’t know what’s went wrong.
The failure from Woodward is not just transfers though, you've been through three managers all with a very different outlook on how to play the game, Moyes' preferred players weren't LvG's then LvG's weren't Mou's we'll see how much of Mou's fit Ole's vision.

Then these players are drilled into different ways of playing through the managers andd every couple of years the tactics change completely and new style players are brought in, that's a crap way of building a team and any kind of team spirit.

Dont get me wrong I'm sure fans were happy at the prospect of LvG after Moyes and happy at the prospect of Jose after LvG, but that's why you need people that understand football better than the regular fan or pundit making these decisions, we can all see it now with hindsight, but we didnt see it at the time, Ed certainly didn't, he's fecked your club properly and possibly for quite a long time.
 

Mainoldo

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Which is why I don't believe the first choice or marketability arguments, most of our signings are absolutely not marketable and they weren't highly visible either because playing for relatively anonymous clubs for the general public. The one player that is particularly marketable is Pogba but we shouldn't pretend that he was signed for commercial reasons when a large part of the forum was calling him world class and the best all round midfielder in the world. Ibrahimovic was clearly signed for Mourinho, as was Matic and then we have Sanchez, he has been one of the best players in the PL in the years preceding his move, people thought that he was only down tooling because Arsenal were unambitious and now people pretend that he was signed for commercial reasons.

I don't think that Mourinho needs excuses for these moves even if they haven't been successes, these 4 players made sense at the time and sometimes you just have to take it on the chin and move on. It's the anonymous moves that are problematic and the lack of improvement through coaching.
Well I totally agree with you there.
 

Mainoldo

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The failure from Woodward is not just transfers though, you've been through three managers all with a very different outlook on how to play the game, Moyes' preferred players weren't LvG's then LvG's weren't Mou's we'll see how much of Mou's fit Ole's vision.

Then these players are drilled into different ways of playing through the managers andd every couple of years the tactics change completely and new style players are brought in, that's a crap way of building a team and any kind of team spirit.

Dont get me wrong I'm sure fans were happy at the prospect of LvG after Moyes and happy at the prospect of Jose after LvG, but that's why you need people that understand football better than the regular fan or pundit making these decisions, we can all see it now with hindsight, but we didnt see it at the time, Ed certainly didn't, he's fecked your club properly and possibly for quite a long time.
Well that was my point that we are blaming the wrong things. You are right his managerial appointments have been a mess but at the same time I can see why he did it and alway why they have failed. My only concern is if nothing is being learnt from this and if not we have a problem. The rumblings around the club seem to show they are. We just have to wait and see.

But it’s never as bad as they will say. You have to remember LVG was Spurs main target. Football has always been about the fine margins. If Liverpool won the league under Rogers do they sack him so quickly after to get Klopp? You can’t tell me there structure would have meant Rogers gets that squad into what Klopp has now either?

You fix this problem by making sure everyone from the board to the manager are on the same page and quite evidently with abit of luck and fortune.
 

Jerome Holland

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No one else find it funny that Neville quickly changed subject when David asked him about "best in class" manager?

It never ceases to amaze me how few supporters comprehend what the lad is actually saying. They take on board some sound bites and ignore the rest of it.

Neville in this very rant states categorically that he will never call for a managers head, ever. When David asks him about "best in class" managers he quickly avoids answering, but then a few minutes later decides to be unprofessional and has a good laugh about the notion of Phelan or Rio being named as TD or DoF.

Think about it, the role of Football Manager is something very, very sacred to Gary Neville and he admits here as much.

But in the midst of his ranting here he won't even say that United need a "best in class" manager, but demands a "best in class" DoF at the club.

It's a blatant double standard and an agenda where he actually insults friends / colleagues to make his point.
You are 100% correct. I like the fact Jamie calls him out on certain things. They do an amazing job together but the fact that Neville and Solksjaer are so close leaves an area that will never be touched.
 

JPRouve

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Ok then tell me who followed this model before Bayern and Ajax
The FFF created its technical direction in 1970, the idea was proposed by the then national manager and it came from the way french clubs were organized for a large part, Monaco was operating like that, Sochaux with the likes of Fortuné Chabrier(40s) or René Hauss(70s), most clubs were working like that at the exception of Auxerre where Guy Roux was like a traditional british manager and all powerful. General managers(the other name that is sometimes used) were also a thing in the UK before Hoeness took the role in 1979 with Bayern.

In the case of Sochaux the reference was Peugeot, the owner of the team, who wanted the same type of structure than the one they used in the industry.
 

lex talionis

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What he actually said about David Moyes was that he was suited to the structure at that time of a business leader and a football leader.
Now. I was not impressed with his appointment but he had done very well at Everton.
The other problem he had was certain players not respecting him and not playing for him. Ring any bells.

As he said LVG was a highly successful and highly regarded manager.
Ok. Sometimes things just don't work out.
For me Jose should have been appointed to replace SAF particularly with the rise of City.
To say that he is a serial winner is an understatement.
GN is quite right. As soon as they decided to not back him he was a lame duck manager and a group of players decided to underperform to force him out.
The only manager who I cannot understand why he was appointed is Ole.
What I recall at the time was that Neville praised the appointment of Moyes and disagreed with his sacking. Of course Moyes had done well with Everton, a perennial midtable club, but he was never the right man for the job to manage a club that was in contention for the PL and CL trophies every season.

Van Gaal also had a resume, a better resume that Moyes of course, but Neville should have seen what most supporters saw -- that Van Gaal was never the right fit for Old Trafford. But not a word at the time from Neville.

Mourinho was a reasonable appointment and I supported it and on the point that once the board decided not to back every single transfer request it's a fair argument to make that at that point he should have been sacked. But does that really make sense? Let's think that through for a moment.

Mourinho demanded we bring in Sanchez, a decision which by the end of the season proved to be a colossal disaster. Bailly, another Mourinho acquisition, had gone south. His brief for brilliance in the transfer market, at least for United, wasn't looking great. If according to Neville now Woodward should have sacked Mourinho then, where was Neville then in demanding that Mourinho be sacked? Nowhere.

Even now, Neville backs the manager even when fair questions are raised as to whether Ole should remain manager.

If it weren't such a risk I really wish we could see Neville, Keane and Scholes actually try their hand at managing a football club. Wait...haven't they all and failed?
 

Buster15

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What I recall at the time was that Neville praised the appointment of Moyes and disagreed with his sacking. Of course Moyes had done well with Everton, a perennial midtable club, but he was never the right man for the job to manage a club that was in contention for the PL and CL trophies every season.

Van Gaal also had a resume, a better resume that Moyes of course, but Neville should have seen what most supporters saw -- that Van Gaal was never the right fit for Old Trafford. But not a word at the time from Neville.

Mourinho was a reasonable appointment and I supported it and on the point that once the board decided not to back every single transfer request it's a fair argument to make that at that point he should have been sacked. But does that really make sense? Let's think that through for a moment.

Mourinho demanded we bring in Sanchez, a decision which by the end of the season proved to be a colossal disaster. Bailly, another Mourinho acquisition, had gone south. His brief for brilliance in the transfer market, at least for United, wasn't looking great. If according to Neville now Woodward should have sacked Mourinho then, where was Neville then in demanding that Mourinho be sacked? Nowhere.

Even now, Neville backs the manager even when fair questions are raised as to whether Ole should remain manager.

If it weren't such a risk I really wish we could see Neville, Keane and Scholes actually try their hand at managing a football club. Wait...haven't they all and failed?
Mostly agree.
However, Alexis at the time had been a real match winner with Arsenal and of course he has been chased by City.
It looked very promising that we managed to sign him and his high wages were offset by no transfer fee.
It has turned out badly but I don't blame Jose for wanting him.

Eric Bailly made a good start and looked to be exactly what we needed. Fast and athletic to counteract our defensive lack of pace.
Again it has not turned out as well as expected for a number of reasons some of which have been injury related.

Of course it isn't just Jose who has not been as great with his signings but remember, SAF also had similar difficulties.
This summer it is going to be absolutely vital that we bring in the right type of players. Hungry and hardworking as well as good football skills.
 

Hugh Jass

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I think we have to go back to signing maybe not star players but hard working players who are maybe not in the medias glare. Think back to when we signed Evra and Vidic for about a combined twenty million. Both wanted to play for the club and worked their arses off.

In a way we have to emulate Liverpool and Spurs of the last perhaps four to six years. Spurs signed players like son who were unheard of. Liverpool bough Gini from newcastle. Both spurs and liverpool have work horses in MF as well and top defenders. Then they build their teams around their attacks.

This signing galaticos has failed miserably. Watching Spurs last night (and people will disagree) i thought Sissoko was fantastic. Never stopped running all over the pitch in contrast to Pogba who just casually strolls around the pitch at times.
 

Mainoldo

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I think we have to go back to signing maybe not star players but hard working players who are maybe not in the medias glare. Think back to when we signed Evra and Vidic for about a combined twenty million. Both wanted to play for the club and worked their arses off.

In a way we have to emulate Liverpool and Spurs of the last perhaps four to six years. Spurs signed players like son who were unheard of. Liverpool bough Gini from newcastle. Both spurs and liverpool have work horses in MF as well and top defenders. Then they build their teams around their attacks.

This signing galaticos has failed miserably. Watching Spurs last night (and people will disagree) i thought Sissoko was fantastic. Never stopped running all over the pitch in contrast to Pogba who just casually strolls around the pitch at times.
We need quality players. I don’t care how hard they work that’s minimum.
 

Mainoldo

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Part of their "quality" is their ability to work hard, fifty games a season.
Work hard or play well? Yet again a significant difference. I prefer the latter as yet again that’s what makes you a good player.
 

Mainoldo

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Going in that direction is why we are in this mess.
Yes because Liverpool and City who we all are looking up to ‘now’ are signing players based on hard work?

Mark Noble works harder than Eriksen. So who would you choose?
 

Hammondo

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Yes because Liverpool and City who we all are looking up to ‘now’ are signing players based on hard work?

Mark Noble works harder than Eriksen. So who would you choose?
They only buy player who work hard, if they don't, they ditch them. Obviously they have to be good enough, but they won't buy someone who won't work hard.
 

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"Mourinho was dumbstruck the United board were prepared to sanction a potential club record deal for Lukaku without okaying a move for a specialist winger to complement the striker.

Fellow left-winger Alexis Sanchez was suggested to Mourinho as a compromise but the chastened Chilean could be remembered as United's worst number seven in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era."


interesting read. :houllier::houllier::lol:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...chester-united-transfer-news-targets-16241182
 

Hugh Jass

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We should emulate Spurs, Liverpool, barca, just to name a few. They have star players in attack and then build a team around those attackers. Especially in MF where they employ players who must work hard.

You think back to our 2007 team under ferguson. We had the star attack of Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo and then work horses like Park and Hargreves.

We kind of lost our way with signing the galaticos i feel.
 

K13

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But he has been consistent on this, he hasn't suddenly changed his mind.

He stated last year that by employing someone like him, you need to back him and follow his ideas. That's what you sign up for. On one hand he brought his own downfall by his behaviour and Neville addresses this but on the other, the club didn't follow this 100%. I can see this. He never absolves Jose for his failings but levels criticism at Utd for the way they have carried on, their structure etc.

It's what many posters have stated on here, I don't see how it's anything to criticise him for
You are absolutely right he did say that and it was in relation to the new CB he wanted. Neville felt they should have backed him in the transfer market in the summer.

In an earlier interview this year he also spoke very well on the structure, in particular the Director of Football role. He believes the successful candidate needs to have many, many years in this role already given the size of the club. He scoffed at the implication that he could do the role stating it is not for a novice. Go and get the best out there was his message.

I find he makes so many articulate and well thought out points when he has a cold, steely eyed focus and sometimes I feel he loses that when he gets caught up in the passion of his delivery.

Fully get it though if some prefer and like him in that mode.
 
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NinjaZombie

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"Mourinho was dumbstruck the United board were prepared to sanction a potential club record deal for Lukaku without okaying a move for a specialist winger to complement the striker.

Fellow left-winger Alexis Sanchez was suggested to Mourinho as a compromise but the chastened Chilean could be remembered as United's worst number seven in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era."


interesting read. :houllier::houllier::lol:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...chester-united-transfer-news-targets-16241182
Sanchez was never a traditional type winger who'd crossed balls for Lukaku.

It's stories like these, with Woodward dictating who the managers should be buying, that should worry all United fans.
 

Mainoldo

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They only buy player who work hard, if they don't, they ditch them. Obviously they have to be good enough, but they won't buy someone who won't work hard.
You know that’s rubbish. Liverpool didn’t sell Coutinho because he didn’t work hard or replace Karius for instance because he didn’t work hard.

But back to my question. Noble or Eriksen?
 

Hammondo

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You know that’s rubbish. Liverpool didn’t sell Coutinho because he didn’t work hard or replace Karius for instance because he didn’t work hard.

But back to my question. Noble or Eriksen?
I never said they pick anyone solely on hard work, they just don't keep anyone who doesn't work hard enough. Erikson works hard, and is a top midfielder. Better than any we have.
 

Mainoldo

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I never said they pick anyone solely on hard work, they just don't keep anyone who doesn't work hard enough. Erikson works hard, and is a top midfielder. Better than any we have.
Eriksen is not better than Pogba and I never said hard work was not important I said we need quality. Not just looking at hard work, that’s silly.. you might want a midfielder with an engine but hard work? Stoke’s squad was filled with hard work. It didn’t win them the league. I’m not trying to be Stoke.
 

purgethefallen

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Eriksen is not better than Pogba and I never said hard work was not important I said we need quality. Not just looking at hard work, that’s silly.. you might want a midfielder with an engine but hard work? Stoke’s squad was filled with hard work. It didn’t win them the league. I’m not trying to be Stoke.
No one wants just a hard worker :rolleyes:

What they do want is for the skilled players to work hard as well, not just casually stroll around or sulk.
 

Mainoldo

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No one wants just a hard worker :rolleyes:

What they do want is for the skilled players to work hard as well, not just casually stroll around or sulk.
Okay. I just want them to play well week in week out. I didn’t love Ronaldo because he worked hard.

I know we are crap at the minute but let’s not drop our personal standards because of it.
 

Hammondo

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Eriksen is not better than Pogba and I never said hard work was not important I said we need quality. Not just looking at hard work, that’s silly.. you might want a midfielder with an engine but hard work? Stoke’s squad was filled with hard work. It didn’t win them the league. I’m not trying to be Stoke.
You literally said you don't care how hard they work.
 

sincher

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Much as some of the time he is right, Gary Neville is intensely annoying and I wish he would stfu about the club and stop commentating on our matches.
 

Sterling Archer

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Lets get this right Real and Barcelona were only ever dominant due to Messi and Ronaldo. Nothing more. Now these players are getting older it was never sustainable.
The last ten or eleven years only three teams not having Messi or Ronaldo have won the Champions League. Incredibly dominant.
 

Lee565

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Neville chats a lot of rubbish, he said he has never had such a disliking towards a United team like this one but I dont see it, this isn't a squad full of egos like we have seen in the past with teams like Chelsea, Real Madrid, France national team, yes most fans get annoyed at seeing the likes of Matic and Young in our team but not because they dislike them as a human being but because they are a liability on the pitch, how many of these players can you say you truly dislike and believe are dishonest players?

To me it was Neville creating damage limitation for his friend and former team mate Solskjear, it seems too hard for Neville to comprehend the idea that maybe a manager that failed in the championship with Cardif City is struggling to manage a club of United's stature.
 
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Tincanalley

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Love listening to Neville and he talks a lot of sense but.... I think Ed will get the structure right this summer ... Mourinho is the ultimate panic spender ... I think we're strangely on the right track despite being the titanic for a while. Let Ole bring in real quality - Idrissa Gueye, Maguire, Cancelo, Bale ... And if Ole doesn't get top 4 then break the bank for Pochettino
Ah, right.
 

Tincanalley

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Except he's not. He's not looking at the past, he's looking only at the present and future, and how we're getting left behind by City and Liverpool due to the way we're being run. And I agree with pretty much every word.
Amazing the pro Glazer/Woodward posts in here. Can’t understand it at this stage tbh; wums? Oppo supporters? Clueless?
 

Champagne Football

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Ah, right.
There's no quick fix. We're defo bringing in affordable unpolished gems that can be developed this summer. Maybe 1 or 2 ready made stars.

You see Lucas Moura last night and think Bale could easily turn it around like that, if he was willing to drop his stupid wage packet and go to a club where he can be a star again.
 
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