After these last few games... I would like to think we can only go up from here

[Artimities]

Saturday was brutal, but outlined the issues this team has been having for the better part of a year and a half.
Ole took over and with that came excitement. eager to hit the ground running and bringing back that Manchester United flair were his driving factors. He embraced the challenge and the players fed off of him.

Fast forward to last year and the cracks were starting to show. We hid it well, as we were able to claw back into games and leave with points when we often thought we would take away nothing. but, the cracks were there and that is the issue with this team and Ole at the wheel. He got complacent and away went the desire and passion. These players need to be challenged and he was not the man to get it out of them.

I wish him the best, but it was the right move... so what next.

I hope there can be some honesty in the dressing room.
Bruno has fallen off a bit. His effort has dropped as has his ingenuity. When he first got here, he was a trickster, always looking for that edge. Saturday he gave the penalty away with a horrible pass. His pressing was not good. His passes were off the mark and he really didnt have a a good game. He has become more vocal and less of a player.
McGuire is a step off as is Shaw. I was worried of a Euro hangover and the way they lost, I knew it would affect them. They look average at best and predictable.
VDB needs to play more
We dont clear the ball well at all. We head it to the other team or give it away with a high risk long pass.
Our defense on set pieces is abysmal.
Our offense on set pieces is abysmal.
We come out flat and about 15-20 minutes late for every game.

One thing I saw with VDB was his willingness to move the ball quickly and unpredictably. Teams love to play us because we are super easy to play against. We move the ball slowely from side to side or even worse, backwards to invite pressure so we can turn the ball over in our own half. Donny adds a bit of flair and Jadon seemed to pep up with him on the pitch. There was a sort of flow to the team when Donny came on. We looked dangerous. With the abundance of youth, I dont see why we cant press and bring on the older players to clean everything up.

Either way, something needs to happen. I hope Carrick can hold things down!

 

[cabbs1989]

A positive post on redcafe is a welcome change, I’m with you mate. This place is horrible for positivity, gets you depressed so well done

 

[Artimities]

Sorry, I am crap with putting in links. This is a recording from the first training session with Carrick.

 

[Oranges038]

Sorry, I am crap with putting in links. This is a recording from the first training session with Carrick.

Short session that.

Not a bit of wonder they are playing shit.

 

[TMDaines]

Saturday was brutal, but outlined the issues this team has been having for the better part of a year and a half.
Ole took over and with that came excitement. eager to hit the ground running and bringing back that Manchester United flair were his driving factors. He embraced the challenge and the players fed off of him.

Fast forward to last year and the cracks were starting to show. We hid it well, as we were able to claw back into games and leave with points when we often thought we would take away nothing. but, the cracks were there and that is the issue with this team and Ole at the wheel. He got complacent and away went the desire and passion. These players need to be challenged and he was not the man to get it out of them.

I wish him the best, but it was the right move... so what next.

I hope there can be some honesty in the dressing room.
Bruno has fallen off a bit. His effort has dropped as has his ingenuity. When he first got here, he was a trickster, always looking for that edge. Saturday he gave the penalty away with a horrible pass. His pressing was not good. His passes were off the mark and he really didnt have a a good game. He has become more vocal and less of a player.
McGuire is a step off as is Shaw. I was worried of a Euro hangover and the way they lost, I knew it would affect them. They look average at best and predictable.
VDB needs to play more
We dont clear the ball well at all. We head it to the other team or give it away with a high risk long pass.
Our defense on set pieces is abysmal.
Our offense on set pieces is abysmal.
We come out flat and about 15-20 minutes late for every game.

One thing I saw with VDB was his willingness to move the ball quickly and unpredictably. Teams love to play us because we are super easy to play against. We move the ball slowely from side to side or even worse, backwards to invite pressure so we can turn the ball over in our own half. Donny adds a bit of flair and Jadon seemed to pep up with him on the pitch. There was a sort of flow to the team when Donny came on. We looked dangerous. With the abundance of youth, I dont see why we cant press and bring on the older players to clean everything up.

Either way, something needs to happen. I hope Carrick can hold things down!

I only hope there’s not a pile on in this thread at 19:45 tomorrow.

 

[tomaldinho1]

I'm confident. I think we'll see a lot more freedom in how we play, much more possession in meaningful areas and a few players released from prison, welcome to United mark II, Donny. The players wanted Ole out, make no mistake about it from the performances they put in (or rather, did not put in), now the pressure is on them, there is no excuse to fall back on. We're going to murder Villarreal.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

I would like to be positive but our next match is away in Spain, where we are generally crap. So if we go up, it's going to be in a small increment to begin with as the best we can logically hope for tomorrow is a draw. 3 points would be an incredible result.

 

[RedDevilMachine]

Everytime a big team sacks a manager, they go onto win the next game. I'd like to think we have a "new manager bounce" and just secure the 3 points tomorrow so it saves us a lot of stress on the last day, even a draw is a good result. Just don't lose. Don't harbour any hopes for our next league game at Chelsea.

 

[Waynne]

I'm confident. I think we'll see a lot more freedom in how we play, much more possession in meaningful areas and a few players released from prison, welcome to United mark II, Donny. The players wanted Ole out, make no mistake about it from the performances they put in (or rather, did not put in), now the pressure is on them, there is no excuse to fall back on. We're going to murder Villarreal.

Short term vision.

It's ok to be optimistic in the short term. The real issue is the long term. A decade on from SAF with this board has shown there is no long term strategy. That is evident by how they got rid of Ole. We're back to the interim of an interim before the new manager who the club is now scrambling for.

We now have Woodward that's going to extend his stay at the club. The common denominator for the failures of the past decade so its hard to stay optimistic for anything regarding United.

Give me a promise of fixing the structure of the club at the top by getting in the best in class football people to run the show and then you'll have me giddy like a schoolgirl and wholly optimistic for the future. Until that change is made, we can expect another cycle a manager temporarily lifting the mood and then it all crashing and burning.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Short term vision.

It's ok to be optimistic in the short term. The real issue is the long term. A decade on from SAF with this board has shown there is no long term strategy. That is evident by how they got rid of Ole. We're back to the interim of an interim before the new manager who the club is now scrambling for.

We now have Woodward that's going to extend his stay at the club. The common denominator for the failures of the past decade so its hard to stay optimistic for anything regarding United.

Give me a promise of fixing the structure of the club at the top by getting in the best in class football people to run the show and then you'll have me giddy like a schoolgirl and wholly optimistic for the future. Until that change is made, we can expect another cycle a manager temporarily lifting the mood and then it all crashing and burning.

Of course it’s short term, we know we’re looking for a a manger.

What actually do you think is wrong with the structure? Woodward isn’t involved in football matters bar saying yes or no to player purchases (which is the same at every club). I always hear our fans say this kind of stuff but since the new structure came in when Mou left, we’re fine. The platform is there if we find the right coach.

 

[Waynne]

Of course it’s short term, we know we’re looking for a a manger.

What actually do you think is wrong with the structure? Woodward isn’t involved in football matters bar saying yes or no to player purchases (which is the same at every club). I always hear our fans say this kind of stuff but since the new structure came in when Mou left, we’re fine. The platform is there if we find the right coach.

Wasn't Woodward responsible for giving Ole a contract extension just months ago? The same people likely handed Carrick, McKenna and Phelan extensions too. It's not a structure if Woody still hands out extensions to staff who are routinely failing at the club.
Darren Fletcher got appointed Technical Director. Is he the best in class personnel for that role?
Its exactly these appointments at a club like United that boggles the mind. The structure or lack thereof is all over the place. Also bear in mind these changes also only happened recently. Did they just discover they needed a DOF or technical director after Mou and LVG?
The club is rudderless.

City waited for Txiki Begiristain for 2 years before appointing him as DOF after his stint at Barcelona. Best in class.
When he made the move to City they also waited to appoint Pep Guardiola. Best in class.

The elite have long term visions and bring in the best whereas we fumble around for an interim of an interim which shows we had no plan B for Ole who's not anywhere near elite level anyways.
Pains me to see our club so clueless and City et al have solid foundations in place. Of course this could all have been avoided if we had this much energy to get it right before SAF left or at least planned for his eventual successor that is not mid-table level manager.

 

[Abraxas]

It's quite hard to go down from 4-1 to Watford and 5-0 to Liverpool. How do you top that for ineptitude?

I certainly hope things can only get better. The question is if we can get somebody good enough and quickly enough to at least half redeem this season.

 

[Waynne]

It's quite hard to go down from 4-1 to Watford and 5-0 to Liverpool. How do you top that for ineptitude?

I certainly hope things can only get better. The question is if we can get somebody good enough and quickly enough to at least half redeem this season.

We let go of Conte because we were still mucking around with Ole. So that's another ship that has sailed along with many other ships during Ole's failed 3 year tenure.
Conte would have been an excellent temporary solution until the summer where we could have planned a long term appointment.
But as has been pointed out before, the club has no long term strategy or any contingencies in place.
It's like the wild west. Just winging it from week to week.

 

[VidaRed]

We let go of Conte because we were still mucking around with Ole. So that's another ship that has sailed along with many other ships during Ole's failed 3 year tenure.
Conte would have been an excellent temporary solution until the summer where we could have planned a long term appointment.
But as has been pointed out before, the club has no long term strategy or any contingencies in place.
It's like the wild west. Just winging it from week to week.

Poch was out of a job and prancing about on sky and making himself available. We could have easily signed him last season.

 

[Abraxas]

We let go of Conte because we were still mucking around with Ole. So that's another ship that has sailed along with many other ships during Ole's failed 3 year tenure.
Conte would have been an excellent temporary solution until the summer where we could have planned a long term appointment.
But as has been pointed out before, the club has no long term strategy or any contingencies in place.
It's like the wild west. Just winging it from week to week.

I'm not sure Conte would have signed a contract for half a season or so. I think he would think that type of thing is a bit beneath him. We'd have had to have gone all in for him.

Temporary managers are generally going to be older managers, or someone keen for the opportunity.

 

[croadyman]

I would like to be positive but our next match is away in Spain, where we are generally crap. So if we go up, it's going to be in a small increment to begin with as the best we can logically hope for tomorrow is a draw. 3 points would be an incredible result.

Yeah I know the coaching is no different but still feel differently about today's game than if Ole was still in charge

 

[Denis79]

With the right appointment I'm confident we'll do really well.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Wasn't Woodward responsible for giving Ole a contract extension just months ago? The same people likely handed Carrick, McKenna and Phelan extensions too. It's not a structure if Woody still hands out extensions to staff who are routinely failing at the club.
Darren Fletcher got appointed Technical Director. Is he the best in class personnel for that role?
Its exactly these appointments at a club like United that boggles the mind. The structure or lack thereof is all over the place. Also bear in mind these changes also only happened recently. Did they just discover they needed a DOF or technical director after Mou and LVG?
The club is rudderless.

City waited for Txiki Begiristain for 2 years before appointing him as DOF after his stint at Barcelona. Best in class.
When he made the move to City they also waited to appoint Pep Guardiola. Best in class.

The elite have long term visions and bring in the best whereas we fumble around for an interim of an interim which shows we had no plan B for Ole who's not anywhere near elite level anyways.
Pains me to see our club so clueless and City et al have solid foundations in place. Of course this could all have been avoided if we had this much energy to get it right before SAF left or at least planned for his eventual successor that is not mid-table level manager.

I understand the point but I think with Ole gone, much of the sentimentality side of our appointments goes with him. Let’s remember the board offered him more support (he turned down other coaches and chose the coaches he wanted/rated) and so much of your criticism is on Ole, not Woodward. Unless you think Woodward should have said ‘no’ to extending coaches contracts which would, given you don’t want him involved in football decisions, be a bit awkward for your argument.

City have a good setup but it’s not perfect, Liverpool have the same setup as us, Chelsea are very different but there’s no single, right way to do things. We have always needed a hands on coach, the structure of the club doesn’t stop that happening.