Ole is unhappy that we haven't bought a CM

Jackal981

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Timing of this news is perfect for some PR moves in face of grim situation.

Random prediction: Once we'll patch midfield next summer, another leak will occur on this unbalanced ship and people in charge will do the same thing again.

Not finding solutions within the existing squad or academy is another aspect to think about.
Next year edition is gonna be finding this super RB and CB to add to the squad. No winning team is perfect. How we as Man Utd fan did not know that. We won the league never with 11 world class players. Klopp has to work with Henderson and Jones, he made it work because he is a great manager. Bet my left nut if Ole managed Liverpool he would be screaming for a creative attacking midfielder.
 

Sviken

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Carrick and McKenna only joined the first team coaching staff in Summer 2018 though?

And they were an addition to the entourage that Mourinho bought. Van Gaal and Moyes also bought their own coaches.
We've become a lot worse ever since Carrick and McKenna took over the reigns. Ole firing whatever was left from Mourinho and LVG to bring his Cardiff mates also certainly didn't help. We've regressed a lot. Some posters actually showcased this by comparing Mourinho and Ole's stats in which in the same amount of games, we've conceded twice the amount of goals we've conceded under Mourinho. Something like 60 to 120.
 

matt23

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So he's apparently now leaking snippets of information to protect his own ego.

Interesting tactic. Mourinho backed it up with trophies.
 

Jackal981

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TBF a top DM could have helped him. The problem is what Ole is expecting out of a CM. He said and I quote

“We want central midfielders who can play. Today’s football is about he’s a good 6, 8, 10, back in the day you had proper midfielders, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Bryan Robson.

“You see players out there who can attack and defend and that’s what we look for, midfielders who are complete and we try to develop that in our midfield.”

So good luck for him finding a new Roy Keane, a new Paul Scholes and a new Bryan Robson.
Basically he is looking for a super CM which can do it all. No buyable player like that exists. The only midfielder I think close enough to their skillset is Kimmich. Ole is delusional
 

RedSky

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And replaced them with who? Buy Cities coaches, and just tell them - "Lads just do what you were doing at City" ?

I think you're massively missing the point of what their job should be. At any other club, the head coach (i.e. Guardiola) is the one who's coaching the players his vision. The other coaches (like Arteta was under Pep) are just some of the tools he uses to teach the players his vision. The coaches are just an extension of the head coach. We just don't have a head coach, because our managers not interested or good enough to do that role.
That's just letting them off the hook and putting all the blame on Ole which is incredibly ignorant and the usual routine at United. Again, if you fail at the very basics of the game then that becomes clear it's a coaching issue as much as a Manager issue. They're not fit for purpose, no matter what the unicorn, rainbow farting PR claims.
 

devilish

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Basically he is looking for a super CM which can do it all. No buyable player like that exists. The only midfielder I think close enough to their skillset is Kimmich. Ole is delusional
Isn't that what he usually does? CB was a problem? Let's spend 130m on Varane and Maguire. RW is an issue? 70m on Sancho would do despite already having Greenwood there. AM is not creating enough? Let's get Bruno and VDB while already having Pogba. We might not score goals? We'll sign Cavani and Ronaldo. Now CM is a problem so the club needs to find him a new Bryan Robson pronto. Its a shame that we don't utilize the same mentality regarding managers and coaches.
 

Orton

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If he wanted a midfielder so bad why the feck did we blow our budget on Sancho, the supposed generational talent who he doesn’t have a fecking clue how to use. Just further evidence that he’s so far out of his depth. Excuse after excuse, yet he’s spent more than pretty much anyone else.
 

Nytram Shakes

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He's either involved in purchases, in which case he shares the blame for our midfield, or he isn't, in which case he can't take credit for the good bits of the rebuild. Take your pick.
I mean it's likely simply we just didn't have the money to buy a midfielder after Sancho and Varne and the losses from covid. I don't think anyone is really to blame for the fact we didn't sign 1 this summer.
I think in general the squad building under Ole has been pretty good, but clearly, when it comes to the midfield it has been neglected as it shouldn't have got to this point.
 

Revan

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My mistake, it's been three years then, 6 months under Jose and the rest under Ole. All of which has been a coaching disaster, so point still stands. In fact, the drop off from when they joined and Faria leaving with Jose self imploding actually strengths my point. They're at fault and should be replaced. Simple as.
Coaching staff should not be that important, if the manager knows how to coach. Pep and Klopp for example, lead their coaching sections, the other coaches there help them, but the brains behind coaching are Klopp and Pep. This is how it is in virtually every club, except ours.

For whatever reasons, Ole is above coaching himself, and the club seems to be fine with it. For what is worth, Sir Alex lead the coaching well until his sixties when he then delegated initially to Queiroz and then to Rene. He had won the right, and more importantly, had the skills to delegate. Ole has none. The moment became clear that Ole was not interested in coaching, was when he needed to get fired (or not become permanent).

Carrick and McKenna are probably not good enough (in case of Carrick, almost surely true cause he never coached before). However, it does not matter considering that they are just assistants. The manager should be the main coach, unless there is some extreme outlier like SAF.
 

Skills

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That's just letting them off the hook and putting all the blame on Ole which is incredibly ignorant and the usual routine at United. Again, if you fail at the very basics of the game then that becomes clear it's a coaching issue as much as a Manager issue. They're not fit for purpose, no matter what the unicorn, rainbow farting PR claims.
They probably aren't, but this idea "let's just hire some WC coaches" is such a stupidly simplistic way of looking at it.

You still haven't answered, where we're meant to be getting these supposed world class coaches from? Were you one of those guys who thought Liverpool were going to fall apart when the mastermind behind their coaching operation left?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.go...wipe-liverpool-boss/l11cyg6vix2p1auw71qcex8aj

The fact is, there's nothing particularly special about the guys working for the likes of Pep and Klopp. If there was, they'd be head coaches at other clubs. They're just water carriers for two genuinely brilliant managers/coaches.
 

Enigma_87

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I mean it's likely simply we just didn't have the money to buy a midfielder after Sancho and Varne and the losses from covid. I don't think anyone is really to blame for the fact we didn't sign 1 this summer.
I think in general the squad building under Ole has been pretty good, but clearly, when it comes to the midfield it has been neglected as it shouldn't have got to this point.
So loan one? It's not like wages are a problem, having signed Ronaldo..
 

largelyworried

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I mean it's likely simply we just didn't have the money to buy a midfielder after Sancho and Varne and the losses from covid. I don't think anyone is really to blame for the fact we didn't sign 1 this summer.
I think in general the squad building under Ole has been pretty good, but clearly, when it comes to the midfield it has been neglected as it shouldn't have got to this point.
To be fair it was a problem back when he arrived. Matic looked knackered even under Mourinho and Herrera was known to be leaving. So I don't think we can look only at this summer.
 

Revan

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They probably aren't, but this idea "let's just hire some WC coaches" is such a stupidly simplistic way of looking at it.

You still haven't answered, where we're meant to be getting these supposed world class coaches from? Were you one of those guys who thought Liverpool were going to fall apart when the mastermind behind their coaching operation left?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.go...wipe-liverpool-boss/l11cyg6vix2p1auw71qcex8aj

The fact is, there's nothing particularly special about the guys working for the likes of Pep and Klopp. If there was, they'd be head coaches at other clubs. They're just water carriers for two genuinely brilliant managers/coaches.
Exactly. Nothing to add there.
 

RoyKeaneInTurin

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I am unhappy that we have an absolutely rubbish football manager incharge of the club who has burnt through a fortune.

Does it mean anything? Nope. Only way he is getting sacked is if we lose the next 3-4 games which is definitely possible as most of the players aren't playing for a man clearly nobody respects - neither his ability to manage, nor his tactical awareness.

Employing Ole was a massive mistake, but keeping him incharge 24 months longer than he deserved to is a bigger mistake in my opinion.

The guy who can't manage a school team to victory has been allowed to burn through 500m pounds and some are still hoping he turns it around. I really hope he doesn't turn this around as any turnaround at this point will only delay the sacking.

If players have downed the tools, we will continue hearing stupid reasoning from Ole and his friends in the media to play it around. Incompetent manager will never give results irrespective of what your XI is and Ole is as incompetent as they come.
 

LoneStar

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And I'm unhappy that I didn't get a Ferrari as my work car. But maybe we are both being unrealisitc here, just maybe...
 

RedDevil@84

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It seems that Varane, Sancho, Ronaldo and Heaton weren't enough for him and he needed to get more players in. We're really setting the guy to fail.
Everyone is unhappy we didn't buy a CM. But good managers try to change their football tactics to suit whatever they have, especially when your attacking prowess has CR7, Bruno, Rashford, Sancho and Greenwood. But managers who rely on players showing lot of heart will keep needing more and more.
 

Sandikan

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They’re starting to throw each other under the bus, it’s only a matter of time now. I must say Ole has a cheek, how much did he spend on Amad, DVB and Pellistri??
Does look that way doesn't it.
Loads of these little sh!Tty stories coming out.

Ole saying Rashy should focus on his footy
Rashford not happy Ole says he should focus on his footy
Ole saying Ronaldo should stop sulking
Pogba saying we need to stick to one system

etc etc

Press loving it as always.
 

glazed

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What about the £40m midfielder we just signed last year that Ole personally phoned to convince him to join that’s currently rotting on our bench unable to get a kick?
Ole has spent the last two years pretending to be in charge of transfers and finally has to confess that he wasn't. Turns out the wheel he was at wasn't actually connected to any guidance systems. Once you realise this basic fact, everything else makes perfect sense.

 

arthurka

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Sorry didn´t he buy on for 40m that he doesn´t use.
SIR can I have some more please...
 

lefty_jakobz

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Why not try playing DvB?

Nah, Ole looking for excuses, he has no more left.

Any decent manager with this squad has us winning more than 1 fkn point out of the last 9 available.

The problem is the manager, not coaches, not DoF, not players.

Amad bought in not used excuse hes too young
Pelestri bought in sent on loan he's not used to the league and is too young.
DvB bought in not used excuse, he's never taken his chance, maybe because he's never given a proper chance in the team? Nah Ole wants to play Matic who's far too slow now, Fred who is great at chasing his tail and McT who is meant to be playing as a box to box but is actually a second pivot (?)
Sancho bought in for £70m, not used in his correct position, excuse hes young needs to get used to playing in the league. So instead play Martial or Lingard on the left?

The football we play is shocking, the results even worse, excuse?
We need a new midfielder, so should we just right this season off because he hasn't been able to waste more money on a player he probably will play out of position or leave on the bench so he can play Matic/McT/Fred anyway?

He needs to go, if he cared as much about the club as he says hed admit to himself he simply isnt and never will be good enough.

Liverpool, Spurs and City in the league next. Lose more than 1 of those games and we are out of the title race before November.

Atalanta this week, lose that one and most likely we crash out of the CL for the second season running.

Great job this legend is doing.

/rant over
 

padzilla

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I find it astonishing what an easy ride Ole gets from the media, he gets it spectacularly wrong time and again and the reporters interviewing never ask him does he feel as if he's under pressure or his job might be on the line.
 

Greck

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Isn't that what he usually does? CB was a problem? Let's spend 130m on Varane and Maguire. RW is an issue? 70m on Sancho would do despite already having Greenwood there. AM is not creating enough? Let's get Bruno and VDB while already having Pogba. We might not score goals? We'll sign Cavani and Ronaldo. Now CM is a problem so the club needs to find him a new Bryan Robson pronto. Its a shame that we don't utilize the same mentality regarding managers and coaches.
The Sancho and Ronaldo thing was pure greed and lack of impulse control. Ole might be even needier than Jose. Watchers of Sancho predicted he wouldn't light the world on fire in a free system but Ole and the club have no such foresight beyond spunking big on every position. VDB, Sancho, Ronaldo, all handpicked, all look like luxury pieces in his setup. Spent 80m on a CB that needed a brand new top CB to be playable. What would he do at a club that isn't wealthy? Sounds exactly like his cardiff stint.
 
Last edited:

Skills

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Ole has spent the last two years pretending to be in charge of transfers and finally has to confess that he wasn't. Turns out the wheel he was at wasn't actually connected to any guidance systems. Once you realise this basic fact, everything else makes perfect sense.

:lol:
 

United Hobbit

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Yes, we need a DM however why hasn't he at least TRIED to utilise Donny?

He only gives him pathetic 10 minute cameos and the odd start of course he won't show anything with such limited game time

It may not work and he may not be up to standard but he won't know unless he TRIES. Try something different.

Sorry but for me with this squad bar the DM he should be challenging, if we had Klopp or Pep we wouldn't be in this position as 90% of the squad is there especially now DDG is currently back to form. SAF had weaker squads and won titles....

He's really starting to annoy me... he's got to go
 

The Plump Poet

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Hold on. So we didn't need a midfielder now?
You've needed a defensive midfielder for YEARS. Ole has been given chance after chance after chance to prioritise buying one, same as Mourinho before him.
 

TheRedDevil'sAdvocate

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I could have sworn not too long ago I was reading comments fro Ole saying he essentially didn't believe in having a dedicated 'DM'. Something along the lines of 'I think back to my day (roll eyes) we had the likes of Roy Keane who could do a job both ways'.

That is not verbatim but it was definitely along the lines that he thinks midfielders should be able to do both well and that having one solely focused on defending wasn't something he belived in. So there, all we need to do is find another Roy Keane and the team will be a great success. That should be easy.

Ah yes a quick google shows this:

https://www.unitedinfocus.com/news/...does-solskjaer-want-at-manchester-united/amp/

Solskjaer said: “We want central midfielders who can play. Today’s football is about he’s a good 6, 8, 10, back in the day (FFS) you had proper midfielders, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Bryan Robson.

No problems then, all we need to do is find a couple of Scholes, Keanes or Robsons lying around and then his tactical genius will be clear for all to see.
That's the crux of the issue for me. The leak claims that he wished for a central midfielder and he didn't get one. It took him 3 years and nearly 400 million to understand that he needed one, but fair enough, i suppose. The next question should be, who is this magical midfielder, or at least, what type of midfielder are we talking about?

What's most alarming about the quotes you posted is that Solskjaer is actually totally honest there. You see, it's simply surreal to suggest that another 100 million pounds on Declan Rice would make our structural issues go away. Not because he's a bad player, mostly because he currently performs well under a manager (two, if we count Southgate in) whose approach is very cautious. At WHU, Rice has a designated role, specific instructions (on & off the ball) and an area of responsibility in which he operates. On the other hand, our midfielders, as Solskjaer alludes to in the aforementioned quote, don't have designated roles, they should be #6s, #8s with a bit of a #10 in them and they should also feel comfortable anywhere on the pitch. Therefore, they should be Keanes and Robsons etc. Sadly, not only was each one of these players one of a kind, nowadays, they are in increasingly short supply.

In my part of the world, there's the saying that if you can't go through a wall, you must find a way around it, no matter how long you'll have to walk. Right now, Solkjaer deploys tactics on the pitch which create a demand for midfielders who are not available in the market. People scream on here about the need to control matches and to treat the ball better in the centre of the park, but the truth of the matter is that even if we snapped our fingers and brought Busquets and Kroos here tomorrow, they would look utterly lost and they would get ridiculed week in and week out in our version of 4231. Similarly, there were fans and pundits saying that Jorginho, one of the best deep-lying playmakers in the world, was too weak and slow to screen Chelsea's backline. Of course, when Tuchel arrived, he wasn't a madman to trade the control and the stability that the Italian brings to the table for brawn and tackles. He fixed Chelsea's abysmal defensive transitioning, and he worked on build-up tactics that would allow Jorginho to do what he does best. It can almost make you believe that this is what managers are being paid for to do at their respective clubs.

So, we don't have a world-class play-maker like Jorginho. But we do have some good options. Fred for all his brain farts, he can collect second balls, his short-passing (safe, most times) is adequate and he doesn't hide away from the action. Matic doesn't have the legs to cover the whole of the pitch, but he can still help in the build-up and his positioning is still good. Pogba doesn't do much off the ball (offensively and defensively), but he has an incredible passing range. Even VdB was a part of a side that knew how to treat the ball well by creating triangles on the pitch. McT has dynamism and vertical movement despite being very raw atm. Try something different with these players... don't just throw your hands in the air and cry "oh woe is me" because you don't have the players who will allow you to shoehorn all of Ronaldo, Bruno, Rashy, Mason and Sancho up front. I also believe it's unfair, even as a leak to protect yourself, to McFred who, despite not being midfield gods, worked their socks off to help you finish second last season and, to an extent, to Matic, who played his part in our temporary renaissance during project restart. It was something Mourinho would do.

Since for some strange reasons some people like to draw parallels between Klopp and Solskjaer's careers, the main difference between Liverpool's defence and our midfield is that, in the case of Liverpool, you would watch them on the pitch and you would think "yes, for their system, Virgil's worth the exorbitant fee". As you watch us play, can anyone come out with heart in hand and claim that "this one is the final piece to the puzzle. This midfielder will come into Solskjaer's 4231 and elevate us to 85+ points"? That's why all the made-up tables and the juxtaposition of winning percentages never made any sense. Klopp used the time and patience he was afforded at Anfield to adapt both his vision to English football and his preferred tactics to his players. You can take the few bumps on the road when you are working toward a specific goal. We just keep changing roles, tactics and formation with hope that something will stick. First we press, then we don't press. First we play with a false #9 (Lingard, Martial given a new contract), then we get classic forwards like Ronaldo and Cavani. First the inside forwards must get on the ball in the half-spaces with the FBs on the overlap, now we want them to hug the touchline with the FBs on the underlap. McFred will do the job in the midfield with their energy until we decide that we should control games with Matic-Pogba in the centre of the park. Honestly, how long did people think this could go on?

Last but not least, i wish we could avoid the sarcasm in this thread, but i'm afraid that's where the "proven CV" plays its part. OK, he may claim that he needs another 150-200 million to sign Rice/Phillips to make his system work. Which, if i'm not mistaken, will take his total spending north of half a billion Euros. Where has he shown that he can be trusted with this kind of money? Would you trust him with this kind of money when the defence looks a shambles after all his investment in it?
 

ivaldo

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You've needed a defensive midfielder for YEARS. Ole has been given chance after chance after chance to prioritise buying one, same as Mourinho before him.
We've also needed a CB, RW, CF, RB etc. Prioritizing a CM would only mean we would be having this conversation about another position.
 

Sandikan

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It's starting to feel a little bit Moyes now.

Remember when he came in and said we had a team of "winners".

Then a few weeks later decided that we needed about 6 world class players to win the champions league.
Then a few months later decided that we actually had a fairly weak squad.
 

Ixion

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We've also needed a CB, RW, CF, RB etc. Prioritizing a CM would only mean we would be having this conversation about another position.
Some positions are more important than others. Everyone on here expected us to sign a CM this summer, it was the biggest priority.
 

redshaw

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Klopp didn't do well with VVD missing, struggling out the top 4 until then end and really was helped by other results, well out the CL they looked very ordinary without him like they did before he joined, he's a very important player to spring board this team.

Not that I'm making a case for Ole.
 

Trequarista10

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The whole squad management is sub standard. How much of this is Ole, how much the board, Murtough, Judge, Ed or whoever else is involved who knows. Cba to play a guessing game when apportioning blame.

If it was money, then why extend Matas contract, and keep all of Martial, Lingard and VdB despite them all being down the pecking order...

I didn't get the impression we were strongly looking at a CM in the summer. I don't follow the transfer muppetry much, but we weren't really linked with anyone...some links to Rice but nothing concrete seemingly..
 

Lash

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This is a bit odd, Pep spent close to half a billion ln defence and Klopp spent 200m on a CB and keeper, CDM and a CM (that one obviously flopped) to get his victory. Tuchel is the only one with a Valid argument really.
 

Revan

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Klopp didn't do well with VVD missing, struggling out the top 4 until then end and really was helped by other results, well out the CL they looked very ordinary without him like they did before he joined, he's a very important player to spring board this team.

Not that I'm making a case for Ole.
His entire center defensive roaster was missing to be fair, it was not only VVD.
 

Varun

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That's the crux of the issue for me. The leak claims that he wished for a central midfielder and he didn't get one. It took him 3 years and nearly 400 million to understand that he needed one, but fair enough, i suppose. The next question should be, who is this magical midfielder, or at least, what type of midfielder are we talking about?

What's most alarming about the quotes you posted is that Solskjaer is actually totally honest there. You see, it's simply surreal to suggest that another 100 million pounds on Declan Rice would make our structural issues go away. Not because he's a bad player, mostly because he currently performs well under a manager (two, if we count Southgate in) whose approach is very cautious. At WHU, Rice has a designated role, specific instructions (on & off the ball) and an area of responsibility in which he operates. On the other hand, our midfielders, as Solskjaer alludes to in the aforementioned quote, don't have designated roles, they should be #6s, #8s with a bit of a #10 in them and they should also feel comfortable anywhere on the pitch. Therefore, they should be Keanes and Robsons etc. Sadly, not only was each one of these players one of a kind, nowadays, they are in increasingly short supply.

In my part of the world, there's the saying that if you can't go through a wall, you must find a way around it, no matter how long you'll have to walk. Right now, Solkjaer deploys tactics on the pitch which create a demand for midfielders who are not available in the market. People scream on here about the need to control matches and to treat the ball better in the centre of the park, but the truth of the matter is that even if we snapped our fingers and brought Busquets and Kroos here tomorrow, they would look utterly lost and they would get ridiculed week in and week out in our version of 4231. Similarly, there were fans and pundits saying that Jorginho, one of the best deep-lying playmakers in the world, was too weak and slow to screen Chelsea's backline. Of course, when Tuchel arrived, he wasn't a madman to trade the control and the stability that the Italian brings to the table for brawn and tackles. He fixed Chelsea's abysmal defensive transitioning, and he worked on build-up tactics that would allow Jorginho to do what he does best. It can almost make you believe that this is what managers are being paid for to do at their respective clubs.

So, we don't have a world-class play-maker like Jorginho. But we do have some good options. Fred for all his brain farts, he can collect second balls, his short-passing (safe, most times) is adequate and he doesn't hide away from the action. Matic doesn't have the legs to cover the whole of the pitch, but he can still help in the build-up and his positioning is still good. Pogba doesn't do much off the ball (offensively and defensively), but he has an incredible passing range. Even VdB was a part of a side that knew how to treat the ball well by creating triangles on the pitch. McT has dynamism and vertical movement despite being very raw atm. Try something different with these players... don't just throw your hands in the air and cry "oh woe is me" because you don't have the players who will allow you to shoehorn all of Ronaldo, Bruno, Rashy, Mason and Sancho up front. I also believe it's unfair, even as a leak to protect yourself, to McFred who, despite not being midfield gods, worked their socks off to help you finish second last season and, to an extent, to Matic, who played his part in our temporary renaissance during project restart. It was something Mourinho would do.

Since for some strange reasons some people like to draw parallels between Klopp and Solskjaer's careers, the main difference between Liverpool's defence and our midfield is that, in the case of Liverpool, you would watch them on the pitch and you would think "yes, for their system, Virgil's worth the exorbitant fee". As you watch us play, can anyone come out with heart in hand and claim that "this one is the final piece to the puzzle. This midfielder will come into Solskjaer's 4231 and elevate us to 85+ points"? That's why all the made-up tables and the juxtaposition of winning percentages never made any sense. Klopp used the time and patience he was afforded at Anfield to adapt both his vision to English football and his preferred tactics to his players. You can take the few bumps on the road when you are working toward a specific goal. We just keep changing roles, tactics and formation with hope that something will stick. First we press, then we don't press. First we play with a false #9 (Lingard, Martial given a new contract), then we get classic forwards like Ronaldo and Cavani. First the inside forwards must get on the ball in the half-spaces with the FBs on the overlap, now we want them to hug the touchline with the FBs on the underlap. McFred will do the job in the midfield with their energy until we decide that we should control games with Matic-Pogba in the centre of the park. Honestly, how long did people think this could go on?

Last but not least, i wish we could avoid the sarcasm in this thread, but i'm afraid that's where the "proven CV" plays its part. OK, he may claim that he needs another 150-200 million to sign Rice/Phillips to make his system work. Which, if i'm not mistaken, will take his total spending north of half a billion Euros. Where has he shown that he can be trusted with this kind of money? Would you trust him with this kind of money when the defence looks a shambles after all his investment in it?
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