Zaha, Blind, and Herrera are the top 3 and I’m not sure how anyone could argue otherwise. ADM probably as well but that one was unavoidable as he was miserable the entire time so we were never going to keep him. But Blind and Herrera were still quality at their next clubs, and spare me the “Zaha wasn’t ready for a big club” BS as if we’ve had such a numerous group of forwards since he’s left that have been much better
Players who should have never been sold in the post-Fergie era?
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All of them and I'm not even joking. Evans, Rafael, Chicarito, Nani, Welbeck etc had that thing that Fergie knew a Manchester United player needed.
There really aren't many. That 2012-2013 title winning team was good but it was nothing compared to some of the truly great Sir Alex teams of the past and the younger players in the squad never really lived up to the hype. Jose said it best when he spoke about the players that had left the club- "where are they now?"- his point being 95% of them went to much less prestigious clubs and have hardly become elite players since leaving (and elite players are what United should have).
Blind, Smalling, Herrera are players that were decent and could have been squad players but I'm really struggling to think of a top class player that left other than Di Maria... who was a tosser that didn't want to be here anyway.
Blind, Smalling, Herrera are players that were decent and could have been squad players but I'm really struggling to think of a top class player that left other than Di Maria... who was a tosser that didn't want to be here anyway.
Also, he was playing at Lyon. It's hardly Real Madrid or Juventus level. His form in 2012-2013 was fantastic but he never really kicked on, was injured a lot and had a lot of moments where he just switched off. As likable as he was he's not been a great miss in terms of ability.
Without knowing the full story behind the scenes, I would say Smalling, Blind and Herrera.
If I had to make a post-Fergie but pre-Ten Hag starting eleven purely based on the football displayed in this period, then these 3 would easily be in my team. I guess the whole team would look something like this(2013 to 2022):
....................... De Gea ..................
Valencia - Smalling - Blind - Shaw
................ Herrera - Matic .............
...... Rashford - Bruno - Martial .....
...................... Zlatan .....................
Not the greatest team, but I think most of these players can go out of the dark period with their heads held high.
If I had to make a post-Fergie but pre-Ten Hag starting eleven purely based on the football displayed in this period, then these 3 would easily be in my team. I guess the whole team would look something like this(2013 to 2022):
....................... De Gea ..................
Valencia - Smalling - Blind - Shaw
................ Herrera - Matic .............
...... Rashford - Bruno - Martial .....
...................... Zlatan .....................
Not the greatest team, but I think most of these players can go out of the dark period with their heads held high.
Most outgoings under Van Gaal, especially Rafael & Nani... Followed by Chicharito & Evans - made even worse because we then had no backup to Rooney (he didn't want striker competition) and our depth/squad defenders became McNair & Blackett 
Under Mourinho, Blind & Herrera - we didn't technically sell him, but should have sorted his contract.
Under Mourinho, Blind & Herrera - we didn't technically sell him, but should have sorted his contract.
Zaha was a gift from SAF to Moyes & he royally fecked it up. He’s gone on to become an established player back at Palace but it’s hard not to wonder what may have been had Fergie managed him, he has/had all the tools.
For me, Danny Welbeck. He's a local lad that supported, and loved playing for United. Was he a world beater, no, but he could play, and he's made us regret selling him on more than one occasion. He had his injury problems, but so did many other players we still reference like Wes Orange. I was gutted when LVG got rid of him
Having Herrera and Blind for a couple more seasons really would have come in handy, in hindisght.
You don't sell until you know for sure you have someone better coming or feel fairly confident about it. LVG's time here was the biggest clusterfeck in recent times, by that measure.
Rafael <-> Darmian
Evans <-> Rojo
Nani <-> Di Maria (fair play, this would have qualified as a "almost sure thing" at the time, but Nani should have stayed at United)
Welbeck + Hernandez <-> Depay + Falcao
People's response to that is that those players were way off form or declining. Well, they at least they had previous form to lose. I'm not suggesting they would have all found their form again or contributed to something special, but we wouldn't have wasted a ton of money on players who simply never fit into any cogent vision for squad building.
Rafael <-> Darmian
Evans <-> Rojo
Nani <-> Di Maria (fair play, this would have qualified as a "almost sure thing" at the time, but Nani should have stayed at United)
Welbeck + Hernandez <-> Depay + Falcao
People's response to that is that those players were way off form or declining. Well, they at least they had previous form to lose. I'm not suggesting they would have all found their form again or contributed to something special, but we wouldn't have wasted a ton of money on players who simply never fit into any cogent vision for squad building.
Chica, Zaha,Rafa,Blind and Smalling as they were all better players than what we brought in.
Evans was poor at the end of his Utd career and the thing that sticks out for me was the lack of communication he used to have with De Gea as they seemed to argue a lot.
Chica for me was a natural goalscorer that was lacking all round skills but still players like that are hard to come by.
Blind was just a smart footballer that could cover three positons but if he had pace he would have been not far off the world class bracket in my humble opinion.
Zaha was the last Fergie buy and the treatment he received from Moyes and LVG was nothing short of scandalous.
Rafa had a short fuse but I loved his attacking intent and he could score a goal and we have not had better since he left.
Evans was poor at the end of his Utd career and the thing that sticks out for me was the lack of communication he used to have with De Gea as they seemed to argue a lot.
Chica for me was a natural goalscorer that was lacking all round skills but still players like that are hard to come by.
Blind was just a smart footballer that could cover three positons but if he had pace he would have been not far off the world class bracket in my humble opinion.
Zaha was the last Fergie buy and the treatment he received from Moyes and LVG was nothing short of scandalous.
Rafa had a short fuse but I loved his attacking intent and he could score a goal and we have not had better since he left.
Nani, quality attacking winger, could take on a man, we've not had anyone as good out wide since.
Zaha, decent forward player, can play across the front and would have been even better for us than he was for Palace.
Rafael, we've not had a better RB since.
Hererra, decent midfielder, nothing special but moved the ball forwards.
Hernandez. Good backup striker, had a goal in him when required.
Zaha, decent forward player, can play across the front and would have been even better for us than he was for Palace.
Rafael, we've not had a better RB since.
Hererra, decent midfielder, nothing special but moved the ball forwards.
Hernandez. Good backup striker, had a goal in him when required.
Agree. We only replace poor players with worse players, that's why some people prefer Evans to Maguire. The keeping too long list is in fact, too short, if anyone is 24+ and not playing 100min a season, should have been offload.
People saying we never replaced Rafael... The guy barely played ffs
Evans - seen a few say he was shite under moyes but moyes made rio and vidic look bad, even made rio and vidic watch jagielka videos.
valencia - was treated like a cnut and I feel he could have still been a servant.
blind - can play many positions better than most lb fb and cdms since.
rooney - don’t think we should have let him go as early. Yes he was ageing but we were in transition and needed leaders.
chicharito - still wouldn’t mind him now with Eriksens delivering he score hat ful.
a weird one but Romero - seemed to be when he left de gea went to shite.
valencia - was treated like a cnut and I feel he could have still been a servant.
blind - can play many positions better than most lb fb and cdms since.
rooney - don’t think we should have let him go as early. Yes he was ageing but we were in transition and needed leaders.
chicharito - still wouldn’t mind him now with Eriksens delivering he score hat ful.
a weird one but Romero - seemed to be when he left de gea went to shite.
Michael Keane was our U21 player of the year and he was a lot better than Blackett and McNair and he was really good at Burnley so I don't know what the feck LVG was playing at.
Blind
Herrera
Romero
At worst they can be good squad players. Even now.
Herrera
Romero
At worst they can be good squad players. Even now.
Like really "never"? No one. The problem are the players who were brought in, not the ones who left.
Imagine having spent a billion Euros only to be beating our chests about losing the likes of Smalling, Zaha, Rafael, Nani, Evans etc. Tells you the story of this club over the last decade. I also don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of these names are from the Ferguson era. There's a strong sense of "what might have been, if the gaffer hadn't called it a day" in those mentions, more than a belief that these players would have stepped up to make a difference. The tenures that followed would have brought any other club to its knees.
The closest ones are Blind and Herrera as decent options (Di Maria wanted to leave). Although, i don't know how Blind would have survived 6 years of Mou and Solskjaer. Herrera is a funny one. On one hand, we were right not to give in to his demands. On the other, when you consider all the ludicrous wages we offer left, right and centre, we sent away the only midfielder who presses effectively, wins second balls and helps in the midfield battle. But which decision has made sense at United in the post-Ferguson era?
Imagine having spent a billion Euros only to be beating our chests about losing the likes of Smalling, Zaha, Rafael, Nani, Evans etc. Tells you the story of this club over the last decade. I also don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of these names are from the Ferguson era. There's a strong sense of "what might have been, if the gaffer hadn't called it a day" in those mentions, more than a belief that these players would have stepped up to make a difference. The tenures that followed would have brought any other club to its knees.
The closest ones are Blind and Herrera as decent options (Di Maria wanted to leave). Although, i don't know how Blind would have survived 6 years of Mou and Solskjaer. Herrera is a funny one. On one hand, we were right not to give in to his demands. On the other, when you consider all the ludicrous wages we offer left, right and centre, we sent away the only midfielder who presses effectively, wins second balls and helps in the midfield battle. But which decision has made sense at United in the post-Ferguson era?
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Hererra is the main one, Blind is a decent shout too.
Should've absolutely been sold. Jonny Evans and Daley Blind are the only ones who maybe should've stayed, but I don't see any catastrophe in that they got sold. We seldom make mistakes in selling.
My list would come with caveats because these changes couldn't happen in isolation.
1) Nani - Easily one of our best players at the time and should not have been sold. But that would have been subject to LVG never having been incharge else Nani would have given him a heartattack by taking on so many people and going forward.
2) Kagawa - For this to make any sense, Rooney should have been sold and we should have continued on the Kagawa - RVP partnership which was seemingly the direction Fergie wanted to go for. I feel like Kagawa was a very specific player and with RVP, he could have given us a few good seasons. Not to mention the clusterfeck of a window where we bought Falcao, Di Maria etc which sort of chipped away at any semblance of structure within the team.
3) Evans - Yes, I recall the horror show with MK Dons and several performances that season. However, I feel that if Evans was taken out of the firing line and given time to build up his confidence again, he would have gotten back to his best. He was always a confidence player who had to have leadership around him and that was the first season he had lost all that leadership and that could be a tough thing for a player like him.
4) RVP - Should have kept him around for the experience. Like is described above, should have let Rooney go and then we would have had RVP still playing. I know that he would have never been the main man with all of his injuries but he would bring a certain mentality into the squad and that would have been important. Not to mention he would have scored a few more goals for us for sure. Only 32 when he left us
1) Nani - Easily one of our best players at the time and should not have been sold. But that would have been subject to LVG never having been incharge else Nani would have given him a heartattack by taking on so many people and going forward.
2) Kagawa - For this to make any sense, Rooney should have been sold and we should have continued on the Kagawa - RVP partnership which was seemingly the direction Fergie wanted to go for. I feel like Kagawa was a very specific player and with RVP, he could have given us a few good seasons. Not to mention the clusterfeck of a window where we bought Falcao, Di Maria etc which sort of chipped away at any semblance of structure within the team.
3) Evans - Yes, I recall the horror show with MK Dons and several performances that season. However, I feel that if Evans was taken out of the firing line and given time to build up his confidence again, he would have gotten back to his best. He was always a confidence player who had to have leadership around him and that was the first season he had lost all that leadership and that could be a tough thing for a player like him.
4) RVP - Should have kept him around for the experience. Like is described above, should have let Rooney go and then we would have had RVP still playing. I know that he would have never been the main man with all of his injuries but he would bring a certain mentality into the squad and that would have been important. Not to mention he would have scored a few more goals for us for sure. Only 32 when he left us
Welbeck.
The subsequent injuries he got completely take the sting out of it but at the point of sale it was a shocker.
Nani I'd had enough of. It was the lack of replacement that was the problem there.
The subsequent injuries he got completely take the sting out of it but at the point of sale it was a shocker.
Nani I'd had enough of. It was the lack of replacement that was the problem there.
Always thought Van Persie had another year in him..
Evans I thought we was right to sell. He didn't just have confidence lapses. He'd be so bad it would make it impossible for the team to win. I also think he's been ok since leaving but not really shown he's a reliable top 4 level player. When he's not on it he's still shocking.
Blind I'm not sure on. He'd become a nothing player by the time we sold him, and he was never good enough at CB. I can't really think of any spell since he'd left where he'd have helped much if he was still here. Good at flying fighter jets though.
Smalling agreed on based on the fact our first choice CB pairing ended up being Maguire and Lindelof, and I think he's a better defender than either (partly because I think if Maguire and Lindelof were Bournemouth's CB pairing, they'd be in exactly the same position in the league as they are)
Zaha definitely. He wasn't great for us but the potential was obvious and we essentially shifted him out to bring in garbage or players our manager actively hated.
I would add:
Herrera - I know he wasn't technically sold but he was one of the players Woodward ingeniously decided to let run their contracts down for no actual reason, and then after he left we spent 3 years with literally no functioning midfield. Its not even that I rated him massively, but he was certainly a better alternative to having to use people like lingard as CMs, hoping Fred and Mctominay could play 60 games a season each and over perform in every single one, or having Matic meander around the pitch in slow motion with absolutely no one in midfield to help him.
Hernandez - again not so much that he was great, but that he got replaced with basically nothing. Didn't disagree with selling him at the time but in hindsight he'd have been more use than the bunch of forward players LVG replaced him with and then refused to actually play in their positions. Although he'd have probably used Hernandez as a DM or something.
Rafael - guy was a natural United player and a year later we had fecking Darmian who looked more like the scared kid in PE who forgot to bring their doctor's note.
Bailly - similar reasons to Smalling really. I wouldn't start him ahead of varane or Martinez but how he was still behind Maguire and Lindelof after last season is beyond baffling to me. Unless he was constantly scoring 6 own goals a session in training and then spitting on the coach's shoes or something.
Blind and Smalling. Up until this season*, we’ve not had a CB pairing better than them.
* TBC
Herrera, if the point to replace him was just to sign Fred for an insanely inflated fee who in my opinion was never better.
Nani maybe went a season or two too early. We gave him away for free and spent money to buy Rojo. What a deal
* TBC
Herrera, if the point to replace him was just to sign Fred for an insanely inflated fee who in my opinion was never better.
Nani maybe went a season or two too early. We gave him away for free and spent money to buy Rojo. What a deal
Zaha, Blind, Smalling and Nani.
Sticking with Blind and Smalling could have saved us a fortune in wasted fees spent on various CBs.
Zaha never got a real chance and he needed to be given longer to settle.
Nani is just a sentimental choice.
Sticking with Blind and Smalling could have saved us a fortune in wasted fees spent on various CBs.
Zaha never got a real chance and he needed to be given longer to settle.
Nani is just a sentimental choice.
He didn't want to be here, I'd not be shocked if the burglary never happened.
It's kind of amusing that so few remembers the frustration with Rafael being injured all the time
Rafael definitely.
Blind could have came in handy at times.
Maybe Zaha as he never even got a chance with us.
Blind could have came in handy at times.
Maybe Zaha as he never even got a chance with us.
Hererra obviously isn't fit alot but I still think he'd walk into midfield ahead of mct and Fred
Di Maria, Romero, Blind and Zaha. Maybe Depay too.
For the old lads, some you missed 
Johnny Giles to Leeds
Denis Law and Brian Kidd
Jimmy Rimmer
Ray Wilkins
Mark Hughes
Gordon Strachan
Paul McGrath
David Beckham
Japp Stam
Johnny Giles to Leeds
Denis Law and Brian Kidd
Jimmy Rimmer
Ray Wilkins
Mark Hughes
Gordon Strachan
Paul McGrath
David Beckham
Japp Stam
Blind was a quality player, but needs the right system so can see why he left.
Zaha ideally would have been given a bit longer to prove himself and develop. But most probably not cut out for the highest level.
Herrera we could have kept.
But like others have said the problem post SAF. Has been 1) not replacing players properly 2) keeping some players way too long.
Zaha ideally would have been given a bit longer to prove himself and develop. But most probably not cut out for the highest level.
Herrera we could have kept.
But like others have said the problem post SAF. Has been 1) not replacing players properly 2) keeping some players way too long.
Paul Pogba 
There's a lot of interesting picks here and some I agree with but the real problem isn't that we sold players we shouldn't have, it's that we in nearly every instance replaced them with poorer players on bigger wages.
All of the sales would be defendable if the purchases were unto the standard required.
All of the sales would be defendable if the purchases were unto the standard required.
Blind is probably the closest for me, but in truth I don't think there's anyone.
There's been so few players that don't have the stink of the past few regimes on them.
Arguably the Fergie players that left shortly after, but a lot of them were past their prime or sold at the right time.
Players like Smalling would be a better option than some of the squad options we have now, but I'm not shedding any tears for him.
There's been so few players that don't have the stink of the past few regimes on them.
Arguably the Fergie players that left shortly after, but a lot of them were past their prime or sold at the right time.
Players like Smalling would be a better option than some of the squad options we have now, but I'm not shedding any tears for him.
Sod that, he should have been strapped to a rocket and relocated into the sun
Id agree with all these.
Injuries defeated him though, not his talent or hard work.
Rafael, Nani, Chicharito & Herrera come to mind most for me. All were great characters who would have been very useful during a time of such change.
Along the same vein I remember being gutted to see Vidic and Ferdinand moved on at the time. Even if they weren't starting each and every game I think they'd have been good to keep around another season at least.
Along the same vein I remember being gutted to see Vidic and Ferdinand moved on at the time. Even if they weren't starting each and every game I think they'd have been good to keep around another season at least.