Telegraph Football: Man Utd looking to appoint director of football this summer | Appointed

BluesJr · Mar 1, 2021

AltiUn said:
Every good team in world football has a lot of individual quality.

The best teams have the best of both though. I’d say our team is heavily weighted towards the individual quality side.

Sandikan · Mar 1, 2021

dpansheth said:
May be I dont deserve to be Man United supporter, but every time I see City or Leeds or infact a lot of EPL teams play, I see their players know what their roles are, they know each other. They behave as a team. I have not seen us do the same. To me that's down to coaching. Ole has enough weapons to secure top 4, which he'll to his credit, but cohesiveness is lacking, its evident. And no, i dont think its down lets say Martial is in poor form. Its just so disjointed.. its as if I am coaching the team. And I know how much I can coach football to my 2 year old.

Leeds? They take frequent batterings.

You're watching us with unrealistic eyes, with a grass is greener attitude.

Most fans would love to have our team and play.

RORY65 · Mar 1, 2021

AltiUn said:
Every good team in world football has a lot of individual quality.

When you spend more than only a couple of teams on earth you will end up with a good squad with talented individuals, albeit ours is definitely less impressive than the other mega spenders and some clubs that have spent less. It's actually taken a lot of skill to spend and act as aimlessly and fecklessly as we have in the last 8 years that we've not mustered even 1 title challenge.

Sandikan · Mar 1, 2021

BluesJr said:
We are a decent team because we have a lot of individual quality. We are not a well drilled cohesive unit. Our passing and general play in hard games is poor. Only elite coaching fixes these faults.

People have been saying this for manager after manager now.

Van Gaal had a mad rigid format but that really did depend on individual brilliance, and was why we seemed to be 0-0 for most of our home games.

Ali Dia · Mar 1, 2021

We aren’t a small club that needs a full press system or Brentford style scouting to get ahead. Usually it’s our opponents that are worried about neutralising us and then catching us on the break. We just need a few more key ingredients and we will be able to handle teams whether they press or sit. It’s the best way to be. If we sack Ole and go with a system manager I’d be willing to bet it would just end up another LVG type situation when the club and fans don’t fully buy into it and then it all falls apart way before completion. Fans are left looking at players like Darmian for another 4 years because the owners won’t cut their losses. Back to square one basically. Ole is working around the glazers and making some obvious headway. It’s slow going but it’s them that set the pace we grow at not Ole.

croadyman · Mar 1, 2021

Bilbo said:
Its not a neverending story. Its a complete non event. There is no indication at all that the club are looking for a DoF. We don't need one

Why don't we need one because having clowns like Woody & Judge making football decisions is awful

dpansheth · Mar 1, 2021

Sandikan said:
Leeds? They take frequent batterings.

You're watching us with unrealistic eyes, with a grass is greener attitude.

Most fans would love to have our team and play.

Leeds do take beatings including one against us, the point is not that. They might lack the quality but you can see what the coach is trying to implement. They know exactly when to push from right wing or move B2B a little to left. have a system in place. Not saying Bielsa is our guy etc. I am saying is technically we come 2nd best and that's not just Ole btw. One of the five most followed clubs in the world yet we cant figure out what system we play with.

Red_Orchestra · Mar 1, 2021

After what? Our past managers have already ploughed us into debt by signing players that they wanted.
If they're serious about getting a DOF, now is the damn time because if Ole is sacked, the new manager will want a new squad overhaul. Sending us further into debt.

wolvored · Mar 1, 2021

Sandikan said:
We're 2nd in the league?
How bad can our coaching be? Unless you think our players are so supreme they can come 2nd despite the terrible coaching?

Its not good enough to mount a title challenge. Lets hope it can keep us top 4.

Bilbo · Mar 1, 2021

croadyman said:
Why don't we need one because having clowns like Woody & Judge making football decisions is awful

I dont believe that many people actually understand what a DoF is, or what one would bring to this club.

The off the pitch structure at United is far deeper in numbers than many people realise. Its nowhere close to being as simple as having two 'clowns' making all of the football decisions, so I think you need to seriously consider what value a DoF would bring in addition to how it would affect the existing structure.

I've said it on here many times before, but there seems to be a wide belief that a DoF appointment is some kind of guaranteed success. Its bananas

croadyman · Mar 1, 2021

Bilbo said:
I dont believe that many people actually understand what a DoF is, or what one would bring to this club.

The off the pitch structure at United is far deeper in numbers than many people realise. Its nowhere close to being as simple as having two 'clowns' making all of the football decisions, so I think you need to seriously consider what value a DoF would bring in addition to how it would affect the existing structure.

I've said it on here many times before, but there seems to be a wide belief that a DoF appointment is some kind of guaranteed success. Its bananas

Surely you don't think we should carry on with this same structure

Adnan · Mar 1, 2021

Marcel Bout is already doing a lot of what a Sporting director would do, but at academy level at the club. If the club want to appoint a Sporting director to oversee the recruitment at all levels then Marcel Bout should be given the task IMO.

Bout also sits on the transfer committee according to the information at hand.

elmo · Mar 2, 2021

Teja said:
Yes lets hope some mythical figure who can do no wrong as DoF will come in and fix everything and not make any mistakes at all that'll set us back another decade.

Meanwhile our squad is in the best shape it has been in 5 years and recent ins / outs have been extremely solid.

Yeah, why bother thinking about safeguarding our future, all we need to do is to go all in for each manager that we hire and sign expensive players for them.

roonster09 · Mar 2, 2021

BluesJr said:
We need coaching more than we need help with transfers. Change my mind.

www.twitter.com

always_hoping · Mar 2, 2021

Bilbo said:
I dont believe that many people actually understand what a DoF is, or what one would bring to this club.

The off the pitch structure at United is far deeper in numbers than many people realise. Its nowhere close to being as simple as having two 'clowns' making all of the football decisions, so I think you need to seriously consider what value a DoF would bring in addition to how it would affect the existing structure.

I've said it on here many times before, but there seems to be a wide belief that a DoF appointment is some kind of guaranteed success. Its bananas

Point you are putting across here is that DOF would have little or no influence under this current "structure" and with that in mind its not possible for United to have someone competent like Michael Edwards, Marina Granovskaia, Txiki Begiristain over transfers and player contracts?

LUC1f3R · Mar 2, 2021

I believe Ole is going in the right direction.
BUT I think we need good players in few positions (CB, ST, elite DM to some extend) and Ole need to bring in more experienced coaches to his coaching staff to improve our buildup play against better opponents (for I feel we rely to much on individual brilliance in those games).

For all this, we really do need a sporting director. But then again we are run by Woodward & Glazers, so I don't expect much (same story gonna repeat...... zzzzzzzzz)

Nevilles.Wear.Prada · Mar 2, 2021

Sandikan said:
People have been saying this for manager after manager now.

Van Gaal had a mad rigid format but that really did depend on individual brilliance, and was why we seemed to be 0-0 for most of our home games.

To be fair all our managers has been moyeses lvgs mous and oles.
We do need elite coaches. Not the moyes, the has beens, the dinosaurs or molde legends.

ReallyUSA · Mar 2, 2021

Koulibaly possibly going go Bayern? Are we not working?

Bebestation · Mar 2, 2021

There is no point making a well drilled tactical cohesive team when the individual quality is not there.

After 10 years of having near 0 individual quality in the team - this is starting to change within the club. Not because of a DOF but because of our manager and his understanding/experience that SAF was a mix of both a DOF and a manager of United - that is why we are starting to change because Ole is sorting out United in a similar ideological manner.

Once we have atleast a a group of 10 individual quality players within a 23 player depth squad then we can decide if Ole is good enough to mix them together to play a tactically blended philosophy.

Polar · Mar 2, 2021

BluesJr said:
We are a decent team because we have a lot of individual quality. We are not a well drilled cohesive unit. Our passing and general play in hard games is poor. Only elite coaching fixes these faults.

Summa summum our individual quality is not much to talk home about. United for sure isn’t top 2 because our squad is top 2 quality.

In general people seem to overestimate the quality of our squad. Lindelof, James, Fred, Matic, DVB, Mata would even struggle to play regular on a mid table team.

How many of our players would walk into the setup of City or Liverpool? Rashford, Bruno, Shaw, AWB and Pogba would at least be into the discussion, but probably only 1-2 of them will make it.

Talking about Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton and Leicester, we probably can add McT and Maguire to the list, but they are not self-written.

Martial, Greenwood would probably be bankers on a mid-table team. Greenwood is off course excused because of his age and talent.

TrustInJanuzaj · Mar 2, 2021

Bebestation said:
There is no point making a well drilled tactical cohesive team when the individual quality is not there.

After 10 years of having near 0 individual quality in the team - this is starting to change within the club. Not because of a DOF but because of our manager and his understanding/experience that SAF was a mix of both a DOF and a manager of United - that is why we are starting to change because Ole is sorting out United in a similar ideological manner.

Once we have atleast a a group of 10 individual quality players within a 23 player depth squad then we can decide if Ole is good enough to mix them together to play a tactically blended philosophy.

I actually agree with you. We surely must be getting close to 10.
- Maguire
- Shaw
- AWB
- Fred
- Pogba
- Bruno
- Rashford

So that’s 7/10 for me who are undisputed good/top players who could play in most good teams. Martial would have been on that list last season and you could argue Cavani could maybe be on there now but I personally think his influence has been a little exaggerated. Greenwood also has the potential to get on this list, his overall game is there he just needs the stats to back it up.

Looking at this it’s clear we need a keeper on the list (hopefully that can be Hendo!), another attacker or two, likely a winger and/or striker and a deeper midfielder, especially if Pogba departs. That will bring us up to the 10/11 top players that would make a sizeable impact.

TrustInJanuzaj · Mar 2, 2021

Polar said:
Summa summum our individual quality is not much to talk home about. United for sure isn’t top 2 because our squad is top 2 quality.

In general people seem to overestimate the quality of our squad. Lindelof, James, Fred, Matic, DVB, Mata would even struggle to play regular on a mid table team.

How many of our players would walk into the setup of City or Liverpool? Rashford, Bruno, Shaw, AWB and Pogba would at least be into the discussion, but not 100% sure.

Talking about Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton and Leicester, we probably can add McT and Maguire to the list, but they are not self-written.

Martial, Greenwood would probably be bankers on a mid-table team. Greenwood is off course excused because of his age and talent.

Nah you are underrating our squad, it’s comfortably the second/third best in the league and a level above the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal etc. Even Lindelof who people don’t rate is a good player and no worse than players like Gomez or matip at Liverpool or many of the Cit defenders.

Bilbo · Mar 2, 2021

croadyman said:
Surely you don't think we should carry on with this same structure

Why not? Convince me otherwise

ShinjiNinja26 · Mar 2, 2021

The DOF role at United is much like our RW situation, clearly been crying out for one for years it’s such an obvious position to fill but year after year we fail to get one.

Hansi Fick · Mar 2, 2021

ReallyUSA said:
Koulibaly possibly going go Bayern? Are we not working?

In case you were not joking: it's a BS rumour from tuttosport.

ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg · Mar 2, 2021

ReallyUSA said:
Koulibaly possibly going go Bayern? Are we not working?

or the fact that, as already pointed out is a rumour...

Or that he’s too old, not actually good enough (he’s severely overrated), and would command far too big of a wage.

other that that, we should be all over him.

Cloud7 · Mar 2, 2021

Adnan said:
Marcel Bout is already doing a lot of what a Sporting director would do, but at academy level at the club. If the club want to appoint a Sporting director to oversee the recruitment at all levels then Marcel Bout should be given the task IMO.

Bout also sits on the transfer committee according to the information at hand.

This is interesting, considering that we seem to be doing very good transfer business at that level. Maybe he would be a good candidate for such a post at the senior level if the club wanted such a person.

Inigo Montoya · Mar 2, 2021

Cloud7 said:
This is interesting, considering that we seem to be doing very good transfer business at that level. Maybe he would be a good candidate for such a post at the senior level if the club wanted such a person.

Well if he's already doing most of it then it just becomes a title and rather superficial one at that

NewGlory · Mar 2, 2021

RORY65 said:
When you spend more than only a couple of teams on earth you will end up with a good squad with talented individuals, albeit ours is definitely less impressive than the other mega spenders and some clubs that have spent less. It's actually taken a lot of skill to spend and act as aimlessly and fecklessly as we have in the last 8 years that we've not mustered even 1 title challenge.

If Pep didn't join City, breaking all the records and turning EPL into ridiculous one-horse races most of the years United could have won couple titles in those past 8 years. One probably with Mourinho and one maybe this year.

Sure, we are not what we hope to be, sure we are making a lot of mistakes and should be better but let's also not forget how ridiculous and unprecedented it is what we are witnessing in City. SAF never had to deal with such thing in EPL

JohnnyKills · Mar 2, 2021

TrustInJanuzaj said:
I actually agree with you. We surely must be getting close to 10.
- Maguire
- Shaw
- AWB
- Fred
- Pogba
- Bruno
- Rashford

So that’s 7/10 for me who are undisputed good/top players who could play in most good teams. Martial would have been on that list last season and you could argue Cavani could maybe be on there now but I personally think his influence has been a little exaggerated. Greenwood also has the potential to get on this list, his overall game is there he just needs the stats to back it up.

Looking at this it’s clear we need a keeper on the list (hopefully that can be Hendo!), another attacker or two, likely a winger and/or striker and a deeper midfielder, especially if Pogba departs. That will bring us up to the 10/11 top players that would make a sizeable impact.

Good post. Not sure about AWB myself, he needs to improve his attacking game, but agree with all the rest.

RORY65 · Mar 2, 2021

NewGlory said:
If Pep didn't join City, breaking all the records and turning EPL into ridiculous one-horse races most of the years United could have won couple titles in those past 8 years. One probably with Mourinho and one maybe this year.

Sure, we are not what we hope to be, sure we are making a lot of mistakes and should be better but let's also not forget how ridiculous and unprecedented it is what we are witnessing in City. SAF never had to deal with such thing in EPL

It's unprecedented to some extent but the all-time points records in all of the major European leagues have gone in the last decade because the disparity in money has grown and the work on the training ground and the detail that goes in to stuff like recruitment has improved, therefore the points totals to win league titles have increased and although they may drop a bit post Guardiola and Klopp they're not going to return to where they were in the past.

By far the closest we got to the sort of points total needed was the 2nd Mourinho year which was a statistical fluke if you look at the underlying data for that team. Plus the fact is we've only got to 70 points a couple of times since Ferguson (we're on course for low 70s this season - that's never historically been enough), that's a terrible record given the size of the club and the amount of money spent and surely shows that there are huge inefficiencies at the club, there's no guarantee that changing the structure would work (there's a very good chance it wouldn't) but the results achieved over the last 8 years have not been in line with the level of investment.

Coops73 · Mar 2, 2021

ShinjiNinja26 said:
The DOF role at United is much like our RW situation, clearly been crying out for one for years it’s such an obvious position to fill but year after year we fail to get one.

I don’t think we “failed” to get one, that would suggest woody and the glazers have actually tried, when in my opinion they have no, and indeed have never had, any intention of getting one.

Suggestions come out occasionally in the press, usual when a transfer window is on the horizon or a transfer window hasn’t gone particularly well (at least that’s how it seems to me) but where they’re getting these “rumours” from is a mystery and if it’s being leaked in some way to appease the fans it makes no sense because they just end up looking like the twats they are.

Adnan · Mar 2, 2021

Cloud7 said:
This is interesting, considering that we seem to be doing very good transfer business at that level. Maybe he would be a good candidate for such a post at the senior level if the club wanted such a person.

Bout is actually a stand out candidate that we're lucky to have at the club. He has vast experience at the highest level in numerous different roles in Holland, Germany and now in England.

The title he holds at the club is named 'head of global scouting' where it's reported that he organises the scouting department and assigns each scout on their mission around Europe and the rest of the globe. Those scouts then report back to him and he then makes the final checks himself before making the final call on any specific target(s). It's a role which could quite easily be described as a Sporting directors role at academy level.

But the issue we have amongst our fans is that we blame our scouts for our failed recruitment post SAF when it's the managers who have been given free hand to sign players for their style of play.

Liverpool's, Michael Edwards is described as their Sporting Director, but if you compare his CV/resume to Marcel Bout's, purely from a footballing and analytical view point, then Bout's record looks far more impressive to me.

If the club decide to go the Sporting Director route then they've got a stand out candidate already at the club in Marcel Bout who is already doing a similar job at academy level and somewhat at first team level but with considerably less power.

Spark · Mar 2, 2021

TrustInJanuzaj said:
I actually agree with you. We surely must be getting close to 10.
- Maguire
- Shaw
- AWB
- Fred
- Pogba
- Bruno
- Rashford

So that’s 7/10 for me who are undisputed good/top players who could play in most good teams. Martial would have been on that list last season and you could argue Cavani could maybe be on there now but I personally think his influence has been a little exaggerated. Greenwood also has the potential to get on this list, his overall game is there he just needs the stats to back it up.

Looking at this it’s clear we need a keeper on the list (hopefully that can be Hendo!), another attacker or two, likely a winger and/or striker and a deeper midfielder, especially if Pogba departs. That will bring us up to the 10/11 top players that would make a sizeable impact.

What's super frustrating is that we're only in this position now, having had DDG as the best in the world for a few seasons before hand. He's clearly declined and shouldn't be on the list, however it's beyond annoying that he was used to bail us out for the best part of a decade rather than sitting behind a top quality defence.

TrustInJanuzaj · Mar 2, 2021

Spark said:
What's super frustrating is that we're only in this position now, having had DDG as the best in the world for a few seasons before hand. He's clearly declined and shouldn't be on the list, however it's beyond annoying that he was used to bail us out for the best part of a decade rather than sitting behind a top quality defence.

Yeh, I couldn't agree more it's a real shame. DDG is a legend here and always will be, he was the best in the world for a number of years in my opinion. Now we are at a stage where we need something different, we need a calm presence back there and someone who can make commanding his area routine. I would love to put peak Van Der Sar in this team, he is exactly what we need.

K Stand Knut · Mar 2, 2021

TrustInJanuzaj said:
Yeh, I couldn't agree more it's a real shame. DDG is a legend here and always will be, he was the best in the world for a number of years in my opinion. Now we are at a stage where we need something different, we need a calm presence back there and someone who can make commanding his area routine. I would love to put peak Van Der Sar in this team, he is exactly what we need.

Jesus, no!!!!

No, he is not!

TrustInJanuzaj · Mar 2, 2021

K Stand Knut said:
Jesus, no!!!!

No, he is not!

Come on now...

K Stand Knut · Mar 2, 2021

TrustInJanuzaj said:
Come on now...

Well, he isn’t.

Personal opinion but he’s nowhere near

The word is bandied around too much these days. Just like the term ‘world class’.

roonster09 · Mar 2, 2021

K Stand Knut said:
Well, he isn’t.

Personal opinion but he’s nowhere near

The word is bandied around too much these days. Just like the term ‘world class’.

He is. That phrase/sentence is bandied around too much these days.

K Stand Knut · Mar 2, 2021

roonster09 said:
He is. That phrase/sentence is bandied around too much these days.

Ok. To think you want to put him in the same band as some other players with much higher regard at the club is bizarre.

No need to derail this thread though. It’s been discussed loads before and people don’t tend to change their minds.

Telegraph Football: Man Utd looking to appoint director of football this summer | Appointed

Owns the moral low ground

aka sex on the beach

Full Member

aka sex on the beach

Full Member

Full Member

Full Member

New Member

Full Member

TeaBaggins

Full Member

Talent Spotter

Can never have too many Eevees

Hercule Poirot of the scouting world

Full Member

New Member

Full Member

Full Member

Im a doctor btw, my IQ destroys yours

Full Member

'Liverpool are a proper club'

'Liverpool are a proper club'

TeaBaggins

Full Member

New Member

Full Member

Full Member

Leave Wayne Rooney alone!!

United make me feel dirty. And not in a sexy way.

Full Member

Full Member

Full Member

Talent Spotter

Full Member

'Liverpool are a proper club'

Full Member

'Liverpool are a proper club'

Full Member

Hercule Poirot of the scouting world

Full Member