The “Ole In” Brigade

[Leftback99]

What's your point here?

I mean I agree it's suprising we're 5th, I mean last season 31 points after 21 games would've had us in joint 7th, a full 13 points off the top 4.

And let's not make out we're fielding a side of cheapos man , nearly every week we are miles more expensive that the opposition with De Gea, AWB 50m, Maguire 80m, Lindelöf 35m, Fred 50m, Martial 45m.

And quite clearly Ole rates every single one of those players and has shipped out players in order to build his future side around them.

The point is everyone can say they are better than their worst results and if every team played to their best we'd still end up 5th at best, especially with no Pogba for the season.

Transfer fee paid doesn't always equal quality especially where we're concerned. Even Newcastle's front 3 cost them £80m. We aren't miles ahead on spending any more.

I'd swap Lindelof for most of centre backs in the league myself, it was a bad decision to let Smalling go. Fred has only recently started to show he's any use at all for the £50m fee.

 

[ivaldo]

A lot of people were fuming when he was brought in as caretaker, but that was some bounce we had, no doubt because as Ince said, Mourinho made things sooo soo soo bad.

The bounce was so good that many fans got onboard, thinking getting rid of Mourinho was the silver bullet.

A new top manager wouldn't have made the decisions Ole made last Summer, simples.

What would they have done?

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

The point is everyone can say they are better than their worst results and if every team played to their best we'd still end up 5th at best, especially with no Pogba for the season.

Transfer fee paid doesn't always equal quality especially where we're concerned. Even Newcastle's front 3 cost them £80m. We aren't miles ahead on spending any more.

I'd swap Lindelof for most of centre backs in the league myself, it was a bad decision to let Smalling go. Fred has only recently started to show he's any use at all for the £50m fee.

How many clubs line up every week with a keeper on DDG’s wage? Or a 50m+ RB + 80m CB + 35m CB + 50m CM + 45m CF?

You might not like Lindelöf but Ole clearly does, picks him every week and shipped out Smalling to accommodate him and Maguire.

Fred is another Ole favorite and Martial is clearly Ole’s first pick up top if you look at our departures.

So 6 of our starting 11 are players Ole has “chosen” in some way shape or form. He also adores Rashford on the left and brought in James on the right. He sanctioned the club extending DDG on massive wages and won’t drop him even when he’s literally throwing balls into his own net.

I’d argue the only places Ole actually wants to upgrade are at number 10 and left back, maybe CM, aside from that it’s an Ole team.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

What would they have done?

I’m not a top manager but I can guarantee you they wouldn’t have left themselves so light for a start and so devoid of creativity.

 

[Leftback99]

How many clubs line up every week with a keeper on DDG’s wage? Or a 50m+ RB + 80m CB + 35m CB + 50m CM + 45m CF?

You might not like Lindelöf but Ole clearly does, picks him every week and shipped out Smalling to accommodate him and Maguire.

Fred is another Ole favorite and Martial is clearly Ole’s first pick up top if you look at our departures.

So 6 of our starting 11 are players Ole has “chosen” in some way shape or form. He also adores Rashford on the left and brought in James on the right. He sanctioned the club extending DDG on massive wages and won’t drop him even when he’s literally throwing balls into his own net.

I’d argue the only places Ole actually wants to upgrade are at number 10 and left back, maybe CM, aside from that it’s an Ole team.

They might have cost us a lot of money but it doesn't mean they are miles better than what we're up against. If we tried buying Leicester's team right now it would make those fees look small change. They have two £60m+ full backs, 3 £80m+ centre midfielders.

I'm pretty sure he'd upgrade the majority of the team if he could. Unfortunately this isn't Fifa on the PlayStation and we aren't as rich compared to the rest as we used to be.

De Gea's wages bare no resemblance to how good he is compared to other keepers in the league. It was that we got into the situation where we could lose him for nothing. Ole isn't the decision maker on effectively writing off millions in value by not extending.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Wow Leftback, you have an excuse at hand for absolutely everything.

Fair play, I just hope you showed the same level of blind loyalty to Moyes, LVG and Mourinho.

Leicester's players look a million dollars because the manager helps make them look that way, don't forget that. You'd call Henderson and Milner 80+ central midfielders too now, and Firminho a 150m CF. No-one was banging on about Leicester's players when they were 12th in the table and just eight points clear of the relegation zone when Brendon took over. You see, a manager is THAT important.

 

[dove]

They might have cost us a lot of money but it doesn't mean they are miles better than what we're up against. If we tried buying Leicester's team right now it would make those fees look small change. They have two £60m+ full backs, 3 £80m+ centre midfielders.

I'm pretty sure he'd upgrade the majority of the team if he could. Unfortunately this isn't Fifa on the PlayStation and we aren't as rich compared to the rest as we used to be.

De Gea's wages bare no resemblance to how good he is compared to other keepers in the league. It was that we got into the situation where we could lose him for nothing. Ole isn't the decision maker on effectively writing off millions in value by not extending.

Funny, most of these players looked to be mid table quality just a year ago under a different manager. We just bought one of their best players in Maguire and guess what, suddenly he looks average and Leicester don't even miss him without getting in any replacement. Instead of massively overrating their squad you should just give some credit to Rodgers.

 

[Leftback99]

Wow Leftback, you have an excuse at hand for absolutely everything.

Fair play, I just hope you showed the same level of blind loyalty to Moyes, LVG and Mourinho.

Leicester's players look a million dollars because the manager helps make them look that way, don't forget that. You'd call Henderson and Milner 80+ central midfielders too now, and Firminho a 150m CF.

No I couldn't stand Moyes and LVG. With Mourinho (one of the best managers around) I was saying similar things, the squad needs significant overhaul or results will continue to be poor. Unsurprisingly to me, they have.

There's no blind loyalty about it, I've never once said I think Ole is any better than average.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

No, he is not. According to transfermarkt we are only fifth "most valuable" club in England.

No, they are made up figures based on us looking shit this season and the end of last. The reality is we've the second most expensive squad in England.

We are talking about Premier League. No Football League.

When people mocked fans for bringing up Solskjaer and his Molde titles then it should apply to everybody. Or?

We're talking about all leagues pal and the best comparison in a top league is that Ole failed in the Championship where many of these other managers have succeeded. And it's a much much harder league than the Norwegian shite, have a read if you don't believe me.

So why mention some promotions?

Because before United it was the best league Ole had ever managed in, and he failed there.

Or Hodgson in Scandinavia?

Because he did much more in Scandinavia than Ole, in two different leagues. And to boot in England so there's no doubt he's proven much more than Ole, no doubt at all.

Wilder, Bruce, Howe, Hodgson, Moyes might be Premier League managers but nothing accomplished in top flight in terms of being winners and collecting titles. As I said, so many years together in England and hardly anything to show for it. You all criticize Solskjaer for his 5th place but no manager that you mentioned has even been there (more the briefly). So are you all being harsh to our manager, knowing in what state the club was when he took over from Mourinho and what injuries/thin squad he has to deal with this year?

These managers have proven something with sides in the Championship (where Ole failed) and Premier League with much smaller clubs, that's the difference. Ole has proven absolutely nothing, in fact, his win rate in his last 29 games with Manchester United is just 34%.

You wanted to know which clubs have a better manager than Ole, and track record proves absolutely loads do.

Bournemouth is in relegation zone. That is being stable club?

Are you playing stupid here, are you honestly saying that Ole has proven more than the league manager of the decade that took a club from -15 points in division 2, all the way up to the Premier League and has had them in the Premier League since 2015?

You know Ole got relegated right and fired from the Championship? Why are you ignoring this?

So over to you, what has Ole proven that shows he's better than any of these guys? Give me anything and currently being 5th with the 2nd most expensive squad in the league is not it. Like I have given you, give me something factual.

 

[ivaldo]

I’m not a top manager but I can guarantee you they wouldn’t have left themselves so light for a start and so devoid of creativity.

And neglected what positions in turn? He took a risk on Pogba being fit and has got unfortunate.

 

[Forevergiggs1]

@Regulus Arcturus Black been reading all your posts here and I can't say I disagree with any of them but boy, you have some patience. Good job fella

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

I think one reason Ole might have done well in Norway is that he could attract players from better clubs than they could before given that he had a big name. Here though it is really the opposite. Few top players would be attracted to play under him.

What he can do is manage us well enough to build up his reputation. That is not really what is going on right now though.

 

[Forevergiggs1]

And neglected what positions in turn? He took a risk on Pogba being fit and has got unfortunate.

He wasn't unfortunate. He was neglectful. Starting the season with Pogba, Fred, McT and Matic was just a disaster waiting to happen. Matic has been on the decline for a while now. Fred and McT were hardly first choice starters at the start of the season leaving Pogba the only one who could more or less hold his own.

The same as our forwards. How he expected Martial and Rashford to become out and out strikers I'll never know. And then saying he wasn't signing another forward because he had Greenwood was just the icing on the cake.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

I've been asking this question and I think it's a very important question for those that want Ole. Ole clearly doesn't have a decorated past that you can look back and say "he's done a rebuild before, so I trust he knows what he is doing".

So what do you base your trust in Ole on? Why do you trust him to be the man that will lead us to challenge for titles again?

 

[90 + 5min]

No, they are made up figures based on us looking shit this season and the end of last. The reality is we've the second most expensive squad in England.



We're talking about all leagues pal and the best comparison in a top league is that Ole failed in the Championship where many of these other managers have succeeded. And it's a much much harder league than the Norwegian shite, have a read if you don't believe me.



Because before United it was the best league Ole had ever managed in, and he failed there.



Because he did much more in Scandinavia than Ole, in two different leagues. And to boot in England so there's no doubt he's proven much more than Ole, no doubt at all.



These managers have proven something with sides in the Championship (where Ole failed) and Premier League with much smaller clubs, that's the difference. Ole has proven absolutely nothing, in fact, his win rate in his last 29 games with Manchester United is just 34%.

You wanted to know which clubs have a better manager than Ole, and track record proves absolutely loads do.



Are you playing stupid here, are you honestly saying that Ole has proven more than the league manager of the decade that took a club from -15 points in division 2, all the way up to the Premier League and has had them in the Premier League since 2015?

You know Ole got relegated right and fired from the Championship? Why are you ignoring this?

So over to you, what has Ole proven that shows he's better than any of these guys? Give me anything and currently being 5th with the 2nd most expensive squad in the league is not it. Like I have given you, give me something factual.

You can argue about squad and how expensive it is but you are wrong. Value of the squad is fifth best. The most reason for it is we have lot of young players in squad and ofcourse being where we are in table.

I still don’t understand what championship has to do with Premier League. Just because you do good there doesn’t mean anything in Premier League. As we can see. You can call norwegian league shit but it is up to you. You are cherrypicking what it is ok to use and what it is not for your own cause. Same as you mention 34% win rate from a certin datum. Why not take from the start and suddenly % will be higher? Why not start from december?

Who is ignoring that Solskjaer got fired? I never mentioned that. He was fired because of bad results with one of worst teams ever in Premier League. Is it now you are going to check how many times managers you mentioned got fired? Start with Moyes and continue with Hodgson.

There is lot to take into consideration if you want to compere Solskjaer with those managers. And while lacking experience as some of the other he has shown he can compete against the best despite injuries and thin squad. Just look at results against top teams. The envioroment he is in and come into has not been perfect either. And still he is in front of all those managers in the table.

I’m not saying he is better or worse. Just arguing that you should not put those managers im front of Solskjaer as easy as you do.

 

[90 + 5min]

I've been asking this question and I think it's a very important question for those that want Ole. Ole clearly doesn't have a decorated past that you can look back and say "he's done a rebuild before, so I trust he knows what he is doing".

So what do you base your trust in Ole on? Why do you trust him to be the man that will lead us to challenge for titles again?

It is what I see that I can still say that I am on Solskjaer side. And as long as I see progress I’m on his side. We are playing better than 12 months ago. We are improving players. We are trying to shift old, expensive players and trying to build for future. Not 5 years forward. I fully expect next year to be better with few additions. The club is not toxic anymore and it seems we are trying to get back to our roots.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

@Regulus Arcturus Black It's better to give Ole the rest of the season at least. People talk like we're dangling in 12th place when we're 5th. Even though 5th shouldn't be where we aim for, it is very befitting of this current squad. Sacking Ole right now will be very reactive and they are alot of reasonable 'excuses' I can give him.

The first thing I want to ask is what your expectations are really from this current squad. First place? Fourth place? Because mine is sixth place. We're not better than City Liverpool and Leceister(yes leceister) clearly. Our squad is not better than Chelsea or Tottenham either. In hindsight it will sound ridiculous that we're not better than some of them but please take time to compare our squad to those 5 teams I mentioned and their bench and you will see what I'm talking about.

Also what kind of style of play do you honestly expect with this squad asides from counter attack majorly. We have Jesse fecking Lingard as our AM, Mcctominay and Fred as our CMs, two defensive full backs and three pacy forwards. What exactly do you expect these set of players with their abilities majorly akin to counter to produce other than majorly counter attacks

We also play more sides in the team that park the bus rather than attack. And no matter how much space an attacker creates against such teams it will hardly be exploited without a creative midfielder. Van Persie said he counted about 12 runs Rashford made against Arsenal but nobody could pick him out. I've seen Martial raising his hand when he's free but Lingard has no vision to see him. Pogba has been injured and therefore we have not one single creative player in the team. All the top 6 sides have 1 or more. We have had none through out the season.

Another excuse is the fact that we have a young squad. There's really nothing I can say here other than young players are bound to be inconsistent. In some matches we look like we're out for blood and in the next we look very unmotivated. Compare Rashford against Tottenham to Rashford against Arsenal. There is are hardly any leaders in this team.

My last excuse is our injuries. Pogba is out with and there is no creativity in the team. We saw what he could do when he came on for a few minutes. Martial was out for a while and we couldn't score more than a goal through out that period. It changed when he came back. Mcctominay is injured now, a vital player in this team. We also have lack any quality squad depth that can make any kind of impact whatsoever asides from an 18 year old.

There is a great imbalance in this squad and Ole right now has us at 5th considering all the excuses I gave him. Sacking right now will just be reactionary. He deserves at least the end of the season then we can evaluate if he has shown signs that he is the one that can take us forward or whether our future would be better in the hands of another manager. However If we give consistent results and performances like the Arsenal game I'm certain most will be Ole out and will be sacked

 

[ivaldo]

He wasn't unfortunate. He was neglectful. Starting the season with Pogba, Fred, McT and Matic was just a disaster waiting to happen. Matic has been on the decline for a while now. Fred and McT were hardly first choice starters at the start of the season leaving Pogba the only one who could more or less hold his own.

The same as our forwards. How he expected Martial and Rashford to become out and out strikers I'll never know. And then saying he wasn't signing another forward because he had Greenwood was just the icing on the cake.

He was between a rock and a hard place. If he had chosen to improve midfield the same conversation would be had about him neglecting our defence.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

No I'm not, I've mentioned plenty other reasons besides points, but league position is very important.

it's funny that you use Liverpool under Klopp as an example when they've improved their results, performances, league position etc. every year under him, the exact opposite of lvG

Yeah and we only saw one season of a true LVG team forming. Instead of trying to find a system to fit in RVP, Rooney,Falcao and DiMaria. He never got the chance to improve upon things as due to Jose being available and a pretty rampant fan base he was fired after the Fa cup win and finishing 5th on goal difference.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

And neglected what positions in turn? He took a risk on Pogba being fit and has got unfortunate.

Injuries happen to all teams, if your entire season is pinned on one guy being fit I wouldn't call that "unfortunate" at all.
"naive" "neglectful" "gross negligence" are more fitting.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I think one reason Ole might have done well in Norway is that he could attract players from better clubs than they could before given that he had a big name. Here though it is really the opposite. Few top players would be attracted to play under him.

And the biggest budget if I remember correctly. Ole's a huge draw in Norway of course, you're bang on there.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

You can argue about squad and how expensive it is but you are wrong.

I'm wrong about an actual fact? That's a new one

Is our squad the 2nd most expensive in the league or is it not?

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I still don’t understand what championship has to do with Premier League.

Playing the dumb card again? How else do you judge a manager if not from their past achievements in the leagues they have managed? It appears your only defence for Ole being better than them is that he's currently 5th, with the 2nd most expensive squad in the league. Is Brendon Rodgers a better manager than Pep Guardiola then in your eyes because he's currently above him? If Ole finishes the season in 6th and above Everton, is he suddenly better than Ancelotti?
The very idea that being 5th with the 2nd most expensive squad somehow makes Ole a better manager than say "Eddie Howe" is one of the dumbest things I've read.

You asked which manager's are better than Ole, I gave you a massive list and the only way to judge managers is on how they have fared in the best leagues they have managed in.

All of these managers you're arguing about including Ole have managed in the Championship and done a miles better job than Ole did there.

So once again, I'll ask you to provide me with information and facts on how Ole is better than any of these guys? If you can't give me any facts and actual evidence of what Ole has achieved so far in his managerial career that is better than these guys then guess what? You're wrong.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Who is ignoring that Solskjaer got fired? I never mentioned that. He was fired because of bad results with one of worst teams ever in Premier League.

He got fired in the Championship after having an entire Summer to make a PL side good enough to compete in the Championship and bounce straight back. He failed absolutely miserably.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

@Regulus Arcturus Black It's better to give Ole the rest of the season at least. People talk like we're dangling in 12th place when we're 5th. Even though 5th shouldn't be where we aim for, it is very befitting of this current squad. Sacking Ole right now will be very reactive and they are alot of reasonable 'excuses' I can give him.

The first thing I want to ask is what your expectations are really from this current squad. First place? Fourth place? Because mine is sixth place. We're not better than City Liverpool and Leceister(yes leceister) clearly. Our squad is not better than Chelsea or Tottenham either. In hindsight it will sound ridiculous that we're not better than some of them but please take time to compare our squad to those 5 teams I mentioned and their bench and you will see what I'm talking about.

Also what kind of style of play do you honestly expect with this squad asides from counter attack majorly. We have Jesse fecking Lingard as our AM, Mcctominay and Fred as our CMs, two defensive full backs and three pacy forwards. What exactly do you expect these set of players with their abilities majorly akin to counter to produce other than majorly counter attacks

We also play more sides in the team that park the bus rather than attack. And no matter how much space an attacker creates against such teams it will hardly be exploited without a creative midfielder. Van Persie said he counted about 12 runs Rashford made against Arsenal but nobody could pick him out. I've seen Martial raising his hand when he's free but Lingard has no vision to see him. Pogba has been injured and therefore we have not one single creative player in the team. All the top 6 sides have 1 or more. We have had none through out the season.

Another excuse is the fact that we have a young squad. There's really nothing I can say here other than young players are bound to be inconsistent. In some matches we look like we're out for blood and in the next we look very unmotivated. Compare Rashford against Tottenham to Rashford against Arsenal. There is are hardly any leaders in this team.

My last excuse is our injuries. Pogba is out with and there is no creativity in the team. We saw what he could do when he came on for a few minutes. Martial was out for a while and we couldn't score more than a goal through out that period. It changed when he came back. Mcctominay is injured now, a vital player in this team. We also have lack any quality squad depth that can make any kind of impact whatsoever asides from an 18 year old.

There is a great imbalance in this squad and Ole right now has us at 5th considering all the excuses I gave him. Sacking right now will just be reactionary. He deserves at least the end of the season then we can evaluate if he has shown signs that he is the one that can take us forward or whether our future would be better in the hands of another manager. However If we give consistent results and performances like the Arsenal game I'm certain most will be Ole out and will be sacked

Ole has us in 5th in a year in which the bar for 5th at this point is lower than ever, with the 2nd most expensive squad in the league. And giving Ole the excuse that they aren't his players is nonsense, he clearly loves DDG, AWB, Lindelöf, Maguire, McTom, Fred, Martial, Rashford and James (9 of his starting 11) and has most of these guys most weeks. He has engineered his squad to rely on these 9 guys.

My expectations for this squad is that it should at very least challenge for top 4. Nothing more, nothing less. I've said myself now isn't the time to fire Ole, it was after the Watford game but we didn't and actually our form on the whole in the past 6 weeks has been "acceptable" so we absolutely shouldn't sack him now.

If we end up in 7th or 8th again before Jan or 10 points from 4th, I think we should seriously consider it though, because for all of the excuses you gave him above, I feel the opposite, it was naive at best and gross negligence at worst to do what he has done with transfers since taking the reigns. Why do you not hold him accountable for that? It's great to do a rebuild but the most important thing is to remain competitive and not be completely fecked if one or two players get injured, Ole and the management team have only themselves to blame for authorising so many outgoings and only really strengthening in defence where the squad was ram packed with players.

And for my part here, I'm done. @Forevergiggs1 my patience has ran out with the debate. Hopefully we'll have an amazing Jan-May and I'll be proven completely wrong about Ole, I'd love nothing more, although I fear the gross negligence with the squad will bite us in the arse worse than ever now McTom and Pogba are ruled out.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

To be fair, his scenario has actually happened somewhat, as we've had quite the managerial changes in the past 8 years; especially if we sack Ole and hire another. Yours is more made up.

Yes. The made up one is stupider. Getting rid of failed managers in search of the right one is the logical way to do it despite the 'manager change grief' previous fans face and take to heart like sensitive little souls.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

No I couldn't stand Moyes and LVG. With Mourinho (one of the best managers around) I was saying similar things, the squad needs significant overhaul or results will continue to be poor. Unsurprisingly to me, they have.

There's no blind loyalty about it, I've never once said I think Ole is any better than average.

You think Ole is average /below average but still want him as our manager? You do realise were not Brighton right?

 

[Jeffthered]

Funny, most of these players looked to be mid table quality just a year ago under a different manager. We just bought one of their best players in Maguire and guess what, suddenly he looks average and Leicester don't even miss him without getting in any replacement. Instead of massively overrating their squad you should just give some credit to Rodgers.

Very good points made here.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Yeah and we only saw one season of a true LVG team forming. Instead of trying to find a system to fit in RVP, Rooney,Falcao and DiMaria. He never got the chance to improve upon things as due to Jose being available and a pretty rampant fan base he was fired after the Fa cup win and finishing 5th on goal difference.

Needless to say I strongly disagree. LvG didn't deserve his 3rd season and only went one way, backwards. We never would've seen this lovely hypothetical improvement you speak of.

 

[ivaldo]

Injuries happen to all teams, if your entire season is pinned on one guy being fit I wouldn't call that "unfortunate" at all.
"naive" "neglectful" "gross negligence" are more fitting.

You're tiptoeing around the point here. Transfer money is not infinite. We add extra creativity, great, so what area should we not have invested in?

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

You're tiptoeing around the point here. Transfer money is not infinite. We add extra creativity, great, so what area should we not have invested in?

I'm not tiptoeing around. I like Maguire a lot, AWB does many things well but I'm not convinced spunking 55m on him was smart.

If we didn't have the money, signing people in the area of the team we were most stocked was terrible planning.

 

[Leftback99]

Very good points made here.

Not really. I had commented on the quality of Leicester's back 5 before Rodgers.

If Rodgers gets all the credit for those players then it can equally be said that Solskjaer has improved the value of Rashford, Martial, Fred, McTominay, Lindelof, James and others.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Not really. I had commented on the quality of Leicester's back 5 before Rodgers.

If Rodgers gets all the credit for those players then it can equally be said that Solskjaer has improved the value of Rashford, Martial, Fred, McTominay, Lindelof, James and others.

And you also thought Milner and Henderson were 2 of the best midfielders in Europe before Klopp. I know.

You'd have been sanctioned at the start of 2017-18 if you claimed Leicester had a better squad than us. Only thing that has changed since then is our manager decided to gut our squad and Leicester decided to bring in a good progressive manager.

 

[Jacob]

Embarrassing pressers lately, starrmting to develop a disliking of him.

 

[ivaldo]

I'm not tiptoeing around. I like Maguire a lot, AWB does many things well but I'm not convinced spunking 55m on him was smart.

If we didn't have the money, signing people in the area of the team we were most stocked was terrible planning.

Our defence was shit. The vast majority of fans accepted we needed to improve this area as a priority.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Our defence was shit. The vast majority of fans accepted we needed to improve this area as a priority.

No, the vast majority said midfield was priority.

But I don't give a feck about the vast majority, proof is in the pudding and we obviously made shit decisions in the Summer if the only creative outlet we're left with is Paul Pogba ffs, we're paying for it now. The "vast majority" on the caf doesn't get paid millions to manage one of the World's biggest clubs.

 

[Godfather]

Our defence was shit. The vast majority of fans accepted we needed to improve this area as a priority.

CM was a way way way more pressing need.

 

[Leftback99]

And you also thought Milner and Henderson were 2 of the best midfielders in Europe before Klopp. I know.

You'd have been sanctioned at the start of 2017-18 if you claimed Leicester had a better squad than us. Only thing that has changed since then is our manager decided to gut our squad and Leicester decided to bring in a good progressive manager.

It sounds like I had a higher opinion of them than you but you are obviously a better judge than I am. They are perfect players for Klopps system.

I don't think Leicester have a better squad than us even now. What they have is a better first XI which they get on the pitch most weeks.

He has gutted the squad which should be beneficial long term IF we fill the gaps with the right signings and the young players develop well. If you can't see past the short term then yes it was a poor decision (if it was his decision).

 

[Lentwood]

Clearing out players whilst maintaining decent enough standards is to be lauded, doing it whilst dropping to shocking standards I’d at best call incredibly naive.

Judging on what we’ve seen so far I can absolutely see a future here where the likes of Lukaku, Sanchez, Matic, Smalling, Pogba are all gone which might sound great to some fans, and maybe all if they were replaced with De Ligt, Sancho and Havertz, but without a big managerial name and no star players, I can’t see anyone of them wanting to join us. More likely it’ll be the likes of Longstaff, Rice, & Greillsh and our transformation to AC Milan could be complete within just 2.5 years of Mourinho’s departure.

I don’t see the standard this season as being any more shocking than most of the last 6 seasons. Particularly when you bear in mind the average age of the first XIs and the fact our best player has missed almost the entire season

Unfortunately, because we’ve been poorly run for nearly a decade, we’re probably not currently attractive to the very best young players in Europe but that’s not concerning me right now. You don’t need XI superstars or XI wonderkids to establish a title challenge or even win trophies.

What we need now is a solid foundation to build on. We need a squad of at least 16 good quality, young, hungry players with the right attitudes and who are committed to the club. Once we have that and are regularly finishing top four, it makes us very attractive to special players like Sancho again

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I don’t see the standard this season as being any more shocking than most of the last 6 seasons. Particularly when you bear in mind the average age of the first XIs and the fact our best player has missed almost the entire season.

Aside from LVG first year and Mourinho's second, none of the seasons have been remotely good enough.

And average age means absolutely nothing if the lads don't become top class. If many drift off and become nothing more than squad players or Newcastle players, why is that something to be proud of? It's such a strange Manchester United phenomenon this, every single manger should just play young lads here, it'll win you all the time in the World.

Should Ole really be lauded for going into the season with Andreas as his AM option for example? Because he's young?