Who do you think the good characters in our squad are?

sullydnl

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Forget about ability entirely.

I'm just talking about things like professionalism, being a good teammate, conducting themselves properly off the pitch, putting in the requisite level of effort and commitment, setting the right standard in the dressing room, not running crying to the press when they don't like what's happening, etc.

With all the talk of a toxic dressing room and people not meeting the right standards, which of our players do you think are actually the sort of characters you'd want in the dressing room going forward? Even if you think they're shit footballers, who are the good pros?
 

Abraxas

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Who knows? I think any name mentioned are complete guesses. It's easier to say the ones that are throwing the season away because you can identify that quite clearly in performance and application.

When you have a successful team where everyone is working hard, you can infer that the majority are professional, at least until there is evidence to the contrary for an individual.

When you see a team that isn't successful and doesn't appear to be doing much to rectify that, everyone falls under suspicion. Who can we really hold our hat on? We've got a young lad in Elanga that's trying to make an impression. We've got defenders and a keeper that I wouldn't say appear unprofessional, but appear short on ability and protection. We've got Ronaldo who I don't doubt looks after himself perfectly, whether he's the greatest teammate, I don't know?

But there's nobody that I would bet my house on their training, support of teammates and mental approach to the game as they've given no evidence that I should.
 

RedBanker

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Forget about ability entirely.

I'm just talking about things like professionalism, being a good teammate, conducting themselves properly off the pitch, putting in the requisite level of effort and commitment, setting the right standard in the dressing room, not running crying to the press when they don't like what's happening, etc.

With all the talk of a toxic dressing room and people not meeting the right standards, which of our players do you think are actually the sort of characters you'd want in the dressing room going forward? Even if you think they're shit footballers, who are the good pros?
Winning mentality:

Ronaldo

and no one else comes to mind
 

Attila

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I think the only good characters in the squad are Ronaldo, Varane and Pogba. Pogba gets a lot of hate but he's won so much for club and country.
 

AndySmith1990

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Mata
Ronaldo
Matic
De Gea
Jones
Bruno
Fred
Varane

I think they come across as being professional and willing to do what is asked of them. The rest of the squad are dodgy as hell
 

AndyMUFC86

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We know Ronaldo falls into this category but beyond that it’s hard to say.
 

Leftback99

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Ignoring the obvious leavers.

I'd guess below just get on with it, train as they are told and don't cause much fuss:

Fred
McTominay
Maguire
Varane
Elanga
Telles
De Gea
Lindelof

Ronaldo, professional but thinks he's bigger than the team. Causes problems if dropped.

Bruno, probably whining all the the time.

The rest are a mixed bag of unprofessionalism, fake injuries, moaning to the press, wanting out etc.
 

Jacob

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Ronaldo and Varane have the right mindset, the rest don't.
 

Judge Red

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Rashford has had a completely toxic season but I still want to believe there’s a good guy who enjoys playing football in there somewhere.

Some of these players are lost causes but it’s so sad to see what he’s become.
 

Thoms

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Mata, de Gea, Ronaldo, Sancho, Lindelof, Elanga and Varane.
 

caid

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Forget about ability entirely.

I'm just talking about things like professionalism, being a good teammate, conducting themselves properly off the pitch, putting in the requisite level of effort and commitment, setting the right standard in the dressing room, not running crying to the press when they don't like what's happening, etc.

With all the talk of a toxic dressing room and people not meeting the right standards, which of our players do you think are actually the sort of characters you'd want in the dressing room going forward? Even if you think they're shit footballers, who are the good pros?
Fred, Lindelof, ... already struggling to name more.
You could put names like de gea or maguire forward. But de gea has had times where he seemed to rest on his laurels a bit in terms of training and improving. I think he was at his best under Van Gaal who pushed him more than most. Its a kind of harsh but theres an asterix next to him for me.
Maguire has a court case against him in Greece which should probably disqualify him, he fits most of the other criteria but think he panics a bit when things are going badly and think thats relevant too. Wouldn't be out of place at a top team but shouldn't be captain for me.
Hard to question Varane or Ronaldo, though i dont think its a picnic to deal with Ronaldo. Its more of an ends justify the means kind of deal i'd think. Useful character to have in small doses but i'd be very wary of picking up too many.
McTominay seems fine but can be kind of anonymous and hides from the ball at times imo. Not a player i'd want to play outside of perfect circumstances in terms of confidence and fitness.
I like Bruno. He gets criticised for whining but i really dont care. Its obvious he cares and he works hard. A bit undisciplined possibly in terms of positioning? He might be annoying to work with i guess?
Telles seems pretty good to be fair to him. Consistent, tends to work hard for 90 mins, if he's slacking off at the end of a match its because he's run his guts out for the previous 80.
Dalot its hard to say, no complaints from me.
Most others theres obvious examples of them being weak or difficult characters.
 

MrSingh2002

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Strictly on character not ability:
De Gea
Varane
Lindelof
Dalot
AWB
Telles
Fred
McTominay
Sancho
Ronaldo
Cavani
Mata
Elanga

Waste of space characters:
Shaw (The worst)
Lingard
Rashford
Fernandes (this big time Charlie season)
Bailly
Pogba
Martial
Hannibal
Pereira

I'd sell all the waste of space characters and also many of the players with good attitude but no ability.

Some good characters would be kept for squad positions. Such as Lindelof, Telles, Dalot, Fred, McTominay and Elanga.

The only players I'd keep for the starting lineup would be De Gea, Varane, Sancho and Ronaldo if Ten Hag can make it work with him.

I'd promote McNeill, Garnacho and Shoretire.
 

frostbite

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I am sure most of them are nice guys. We are angry with them because they are not winning, but this does not mean they are terrible characters.
 

Relevated

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Strictly on character not ability:
De Gea
Varane
Lindelof
Dalot
AWB
Telles
Fred
McTominay
Sancho
Ronaldo
Cavani
Mata
Elanga

Waste of space characters:
Shaw (The worst)
Lingard
Rashford
Fernandes (this big time Charlie season)
Bailly
Pogba
Martial
Hannibal
Pereira

I'd sell all the waste of space characters and also many of the players with good attitude but no ability.

Some good characters would be kept for squad positions. Such as Lindelof, Telles, Dalot, Fred, McTominay and Elanga.

The only players I'd keep for the starting lineup would be De Gea, Varane, Sancho and Ronaldo if Ten Hag can make it work with him.

I'd promote McNeill, Garnacho and Shoretire.
Mejbri based on what?
 

Random Task

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Strictly on character not ability:
De Gea
Varane
Lindelof
Dalot
AWB
Telles
Fred
McTominay
Sancho
Ronaldo
Cavani
Mata
Elanga

Waste of space characters:
Shaw (The worst)
Lingard
Rashford
Fernandes (this big time Charlie season)
Bailly
Pogba
Martial
Hannibal
Pereira

I'd sell all the waste of space characters and also many of the players with good attitude but no ability.

Some good characters would be kept for squad positions. Such as Lindelof, Telles, Dalot, Fred, McTominay and Elanga.

The only players I'd keep for the starting lineup would be De Gea, Varane, Sancho and Ronaldo if Ten Hag can make it work with him.

I'd promote McNeill, Garnacho and Shoretire.
Hannibal's started one game and you're judging him as a waste of space character?
 

MrSingh2002

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Mejbri based on what?
He matched Zaha for petulance today. For those that have watched him before the last couple of games it's clear he's got that side to him. Will need to grow up quick for the Premier League.
 

MrSingh2002

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Hannibal's started one game and you're judging him as a waste of space character?
I pick McNeill, Garnacho and Shoretire as the 3 best academy prospects. I don't think Hannibal makes it long term at United. Pretty sure of that.
 

edcunited1878

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He matched Zaha for petulance today. For those that have watched him before the last couple of games it's clear he's got that side to him. Will need to grow up quick for the Premier League.
Being inexperienced like Hannibal doesn't mean he's unprofessional or has a poor attitude. It's way too early to tell and you're proving to be prejudice. the level of fight and grit has to be curtailed more, but his intentions are good, just gotten him yellows and he has to be mindful.
 

MrSingh2002

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Being inexperienced like Hannibal doesn't mean he's unprofessional or has a poor attitude. It's way too early to tell and you're proving to be prejudice. the level of fight and grit has to be curtailed more, but his intentions are good, just gotten him yellows and he has to be mindful.
Time will prove one of us right in our judgement.
 

edcunited1878

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Time will prove one of us right in our judgement.
Obviously yes, so then why name him as a bad apple when he's as green as they can be? He's obviously trained well enough and kept to the instructions during training to have started today.

You've already made your mind up about him as a player, fine, but then you've already made up his character based on what? Again, prejudice.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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Ronaldo
De Gea
Varane
Fred
Lindelof
Telles
Dalot

Probably a few more. Telles/Dalot aren't good enough though and I'd get rid of both ASAP.
 

MrSingh2002

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Obviously yes, so then why name him as a bad apple when he's as green as they can be? He's obviously trained well enough and kept to the instructions during training to have started today.

You've already made your mind up about him as a player, fine, but then you've already made up his character based on what? Again, prejudice.
Prejudice is a massive assumption on your end. I've seen a fair amount of him in the youth teams to form an opinion on his talent and application.

Go somewhere else with your accusations.
 

Crashoutcassius

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Probably most of them. The current hubbub is media driven tabloid rubbish that the lower IQ folk eat up. If we had a good manager we would do as well as this squad is capable of from a quality perspective , probably fourth
 

AFC NimbleThumb

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Not the ones who dig out the rest of the squad after they’ve played well themselves but hide when they’re just as bad another week.

I firmly believe you could drop most of our squad into any successful one & ability aside they’d assimilate, the trouble is we’ve got a bunch of never haves masquerading as leaders so it’s pretty difficult to create accountability. Ronaldo has come in with the pedigree & we’ve seen the squad go to sh*t because for years we celebrated their underachievements then suddenly expected them to go from failures to EPL challengers.

This squad doesn’t work together but there are some decent professionals in it.
 

Kag

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What a shite thread. I mean, short of the likes of Lingard videoing his mates shagging cushions during pre season, or posting videos of himself screaming on the way to Upton Park, I’m struggling to identify where evidence for any of this comes from.

Hannibal has started one game for the club and we’ve got lads claiming he is a waste of space. This about an 18 year old kid. Bizarre.
 

hobbers

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De Gea, Heaton, Varane, Dalot(ish), Fred, Sancho(ish), Matic, Mata, Elanga, Ronaldo


Depends whether you define having good character as having a spine and not being mentally weak.

Because Lindelof, McTominay, Maguire and Bruno have all proven to be incredibly mentally weak. Lindelof is spineless. McTominay has a big gob but is terrified of the ball. Maguire is deluded about his own ability and is hyper interested in covering his own back. And Bruno is a total melt who is flaky and cant handle big moments. I dont think you could seriously argue any of them are good characters. They are small time players who wilt on the big stages.
 

jem

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Not including obvious leavers: De Gea, Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire (not captain material, but I don’t think he’s contributing to the toxicity), Telles, Fred, VDB, McTominay, Bruno (although doubts are setting in), Sancho, Elanga, Ronaldo.

No idea about the youngsters.
The fact that maybe 5 of those is at the required standard is deeply troubling.
 

CloneMC16

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None of us have any idea. We don't know what is happening behind closed doors. Anybody posting names is really just guessing/posting their favourites.
 

Sky1981

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Ignoring the obvious leavers.

I'd guess below just get on with it, train as they are told and don't cause much fuss:

Fred
McTominay
Maguire
Varane
Elanga
Telles
De Gea
Lindelof

Ronaldo, professional but thinks he's bigger than the team. Causes problems if dropped.

Bruno, probably whining all the the time.

The rest are a mixed bag of unprofessionalism, fake injuries, moaning to the press, wanting out etc.
Causes problem if dropped?

What do you based this on, did he ever throw a strop or forced himself to be played?
 

SWE-Chucky

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Ronaldo, De Gea, Varane, Mata. Those are probably the ones I would put my money on...
 

roonster09

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Who even knows, almost everyone named Ronaldo in good characters and Athletic article says he was so angry that we made lot of changes for dead rubber CL game (he was on the bench) he mare himself unavailable and left for Portugal.

OP was about "ignoring ability" but all the answers are based on players that posters like and dislike, and based on ability.
 

Water Melon

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I would not call Ronaldo a good character. Has he not got pissed off for not being selected against City and decided to feck off? He is one of the GOATs for sure, but he is past it and has never been greater than Man United. Needs to get off his fecking high horses and realize that any manager should think of the team's result first and invidual egos second.
 

Jibbs

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I love Ronaldo, but I want him gone. I think his presence has been toxic to a lot of players. I don't think Varane would settle in United either, he can be sold to PSG this window.

Apart from regular suspects, I wouldn't mind saying adios to Ronaldo, Varane, and Shaw too if a good offer comes.

These are the players I want gone, along with those who are already leaving...

Henderson
AWB
Varane
Shaw
Bailly
Jones
Tuanzebe
Telles
Pogba
Matic
Mata
Lingard
Martial
Ronaldo
Cavani

I want us to get these guys
Deligt or Timber
Torres or Ndicka
Lodi or Tyrell Malacia
FDJ or Neves
Rice or Ibrahim or Enzo
Nkunku or Nunez
Antony or Raphinha
 

Caesar2290

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De Gea
Lindelof
Shaw
Varane
Telles
Fred
Scott
AWB
Dalot
Telles
Ronaldo
Mata
Sancho
Heaton

+all the academy lads that have been promoted this season

I think this whole "social cliques' thing is overblown. Most likely Ronaldo came in and a couple of entitled players didn't like that he was rocking the boat too much and the managers(Ole and Ralf) didn't have the clout to reign them in.

I imagine it's 4-5 players involved at most, but it takes a couple of apple to make the entire harvest rotten.
 

RedRonaldo

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My guess is Ronaldo, Varane, De Gea and Mata.

The rest I have fecking no idea. Most of them are probably either toxic, or whine too much without showing any real effort, or cares more about his own social media or money earning here, or keep leaking things to media, or simply doesn’t care much about winning.