Or have we come to terms with being average?
For several years I was wondering who were calling the shots at the club. And are they embarrassed? And why do Glazer accept the waste of money we have seen over the past decade? I think I know the answer for two of these question now.
The manager obviously has a huge say in the decision making. In terms of transfers it is claimed he has a veto. I have also seen claims that the manager co-operate with a «scouting departement». And I understand that the scouting department could veto OGS.
I appreciate that we to a lesser degree spend huge money on big names than we did a few years ago, and that we to a lesser degree appear to interested in expensive has-beens. I think we are making some good decisions in terms of shipping out players who have proved over time that they are not good enough.
But we keep making big mistakes in the transfer market and with player «logistic» that is a worry. It feels like we
are replacing mediocracy with mediocracy. Luckily some of the mediocre players we bring in these days are cheap, and we can probably get our money back.
The biggest worry is the manner in which we are wasting time. Both on players who clearly are not good enough but also how we operate. We move too slow when we try to buy players and are not ruthless enough when players are not performing up to standards.
One could probably argue that it made sense making de Gea the best paid goalkeeper in the world at the time. When we decided to give Matic a new contract one could say that our squad needed depth and experience. Heck, their is an arguement that it would be silly to sell Pogba too cheap. But I’m confident that all of these decisions will be more expensive than the alternative, cutting our losses early. It feels like the lack of competence makes the people in charge afraid of taking risk, and that we instead end up paying over the top while trying to play it safe. It has been a similar case in the past several times. For instance in the case of Rojo. Both when we extended his contract and when we decided not to sell him to Everton.
In fact, when we hesitated on signing Fellaini for his release clause, and we ended up paying even more for him, that was an omen of what was about to hit us this decade.
One of the things I miss the most about the Ferguson-era, in terms of how we were run, was how fast he would get rid of players. At least looking back at it. I hate having players who lack motivation or clearly dont have any desire of being here.
On players in, I struggle even more to see how we end up making some decisions. I trusted our scouts and OGS at the time, but it is hard to see the point of signing James. We basically replaced James with Lingard. A mediocre player for another mediocre player. What was the point?
And if we were about to spend £40 mill on a midfielder this summer, who figured it would be a good idea to spend them on Donny. Dont get me wrong, he will probably come good, but we needed someone now. It almost feel like OGS biggest challenge is to get him minutes.
And how could anyone who had actually seem AWB play decide that we should pay £50 mill for him? Would any team in the PL pay us half that amount for him now? How is possible that nobody made a veto against that? Not one single person in the room who could raise their hand and say «he actually really struggle when he or his team are on the ball»?
With regards to Telles we really needed a left back, but it looks mlike a similar case to a few of the other cheap signings we have made the past few years. A mediocre player with little potential. Is there not a single left back available for MU with a greater potential than a 28 year old from Porto?
Our managers should made a veto against quite a few of these signings and extentions. But it is also telling that nobody else did. And maybe a manager could be forgiven to accept mediocre players if the alternative, or fear, is no players at all?
It is, in my opinion, apparent that the problems go all the way to the top. The decisions made by the «tranfer commitee» reflect the incompetence and lack of planning by the board when firing and hiring managers. What was the point of hiring Louis van Gaal if we were going to replace him with Jose Mourinho? Was Mourinho a good fit for that squad? A natural choice for a young squad that needed rebuilding?
Today we have a manager who did not get the job based on what he has achieved as a manager or coach, but rather on what he did as a player for Man Utd and a three months purple patch. How can we expect him to compete with the best coaches and managers in the world? On top of that, we are not even attractive enough to compete with Dortmund for the players he wants. Furthermore, we appear to be behind/late on all the latest developments within sports science.
It almost feels like we have resigned from competing. That the losers who run and own the club have realized they dont stand a chance. Like our manager, the owners did not get in the position they are due to merits either. They inherited wealth from their dad. Very little imply that they are clever at running anything at all. As a consequence I really doubt that that we will be able to compete for the title ever again while they own the club. Not because they lack a willingness to invest, are penny-pinching or take money out of the club. Not all. Just because of their sheer incompetence and plain stupidity.
My point is that regardless of who our manager is, I will not expect success. Not in the way we used to define it. Because at the end of the day, regardless of who the manager is, Glazer will be the owner. And I can’t see them building a winning culture from the top.
I still enjoy supporting the club and watching Man Utd play. As a consequence I will always want us to have the best manager «available». I don’t think any of the managers after Ferguson have been good choices, and that is annoying. But I have come to terms with Man Utd not being at the top of the perch anymore.
For several years I was wondering who were calling the shots at the club. And are they embarrassed? And why do Glazer accept the waste of money we have seen over the past decade? I think I know the answer for two of these question now.
The manager obviously has a huge say in the decision making. In terms of transfers it is claimed he has a veto. I have also seen claims that the manager co-operate with a «scouting departement». And I understand that the scouting department could veto OGS.
I appreciate that we to a lesser degree spend huge money on big names than we did a few years ago, and that we to a lesser degree appear to interested in expensive has-beens. I think we are making some good decisions in terms of shipping out players who have proved over time that they are not good enough.
But we keep making big mistakes in the transfer market and with player «logistic» that is a worry. It feels like we
are replacing mediocracy with mediocracy. Luckily some of the mediocre players we bring in these days are cheap, and we can probably get our money back.
The biggest worry is the manner in which we are wasting time. Both on players who clearly are not good enough but also how we operate. We move too slow when we try to buy players and are not ruthless enough when players are not performing up to standards.
One could probably argue that it made sense making de Gea the best paid goalkeeper in the world at the time. When we decided to give Matic a new contract one could say that our squad needed depth and experience. Heck, their is an arguement that it would be silly to sell Pogba too cheap. But I’m confident that all of these decisions will be more expensive than the alternative, cutting our losses early. It feels like the lack of competence makes the people in charge afraid of taking risk, and that we instead end up paying over the top while trying to play it safe. It has been a similar case in the past several times. For instance in the case of Rojo. Both when we extended his contract and when we decided not to sell him to Everton.
In fact, when we hesitated on signing Fellaini for his release clause, and we ended up paying even more for him, that was an omen of what was about to hit us this decade.
One of the things I miss the most about the Ferguson-era, in terms of how we were run, was how fast he would get rid of players. At least looking back at it. I hate having players who lack motivation or clearly dont have any desire of being here.
On players in, I struggle even more to see how we end up making some decisions. I trusted our scouts and OGS at the time, but it is hard to see the point of signing James. We basically replaced James with Lingard. A mediocre player for another mediocre player. What was the point?
And if we were about to spend £40 mill on a midfielder this summer, who figured it would be a good idea to spend them on Donny. Dont get me wrong, he will probably come good, but we needed someone now. It almost feel like OGS biggest challenge is to get him minutes.
And how could anyone who had actually seem AWB play decide that we should pay £50 mill for him? Would any team in the PL pay us half that amount for him now? How is possible that nobody made a veto against that? Not one single person in the room who could raise their hand and say «he actually really struggle when he or his team are on the ball»?
With regards to Telles we really needed a left back, but it looks mlike a similar case to a few of the other cheap signings we have made the past few years. A mediocre player with little potential. Is there not a single left back available for MU with a greater potential than a 28 year old from Porto?
Our managers should made a veto against quite a few of these signings and extentions. But it is also telling that nobody else did. And maybe a manager could be forgiven to accept mediocre players if the alternative, or fear, is no players at all?
It is, in my opinion, apparent that the problems go all the way to the top. The decisions made by the «tranfer commitee» reflect the incompetence and lack of planning by the board when firing and hiring managers. What was the point of hiring Louis van Gaal if we were going to replace him with Jose Mourinho? Was Mourinho a good fit for that squad? A natural choice for a young squad that needed rebuilding?
Today we have a manager who did not get the job based on what he has achieved as a manager or coach, but rather on what he did as a player for Man Utd and a three months purple patch. How can we expect him to compete with the best coaches and managers in the world? On top of that, we are not even attractive enough to compete with Dortmund for the players he wants. Furthermore, we appear to be behind/late on all the latest developments within sports science.
It almost feels like we have resigned from competing. That the losers who run and own the club have realized they dont stand a chance. Like our manager, the owners did not get in the position they are due to merits either. They inherited wealth from their dad. Very little imply that they are clever at running anything at all. As a consequence I really doubt that that we will be able to compete for the title ever again while they own the club. Not because they lack a willingness to invest, are penny-pinching or take money out of the club. Not all. Just because of their sheer incompetence and plain stupidity.
My point is that regardless of who our manager is, I will not expect success. Not in the way we used to define it. Because at the end of the day, regardless of who the manager is, Glazer will be the owner. And I can’t see them building a winning culture from the top.
I still enjoy supporting the club and watching Man Utd play. As a consequence I will always want us to have the best manager «available». I don’t think any of the managers after Ferguson have been good choices, and that is annoying. But I have come to terms with Man Utd not being at the top of the perch anymore.
Believing in the club is already a lost cause for me. Incompetent every seasons. The best thing is to hope they did few things right. I already resign to the club being terribly run and not expecting Ed and co to improve. Worthless. I expect bad decisions makings every contract nego and transfers made by the club every season.