Just looking for opinions on this, hopefully this thread wont attract too much pointless moaning. It is really about the blend of the players and how it has shifted.
Who out of the managers since ferguson has got the best blend of the 3?
When I think about the squad moyes had, we had an absolute abundance of quality in ddg, rooney, rvp, carrick, rio, evra etc but lacked physicality due to age of squad and some younger players not really gelling with moyes, and to some extent lacked industry which i would put down to low physicality but especially to moyes not really getting through to the players. Fellaini was unpopular but brought some balance to the side ironically.
I think the squad LVG inherited was again high on quality, low on physicality and he exacerbated that that by jettisoning nani, rafael, falling with di maria who was an injection of pace, and bringing in a strange bunch of players. I think a real transition in playing staff was necessary but I can only assume we didn't have the recruitment staff in position because it really was scatter gun, by far the most successful signing being shaw who was identified the prior year. As for industry, we mostly just kept the ball knocking around the back so very hard to tell.
Mourinho clearly tried to shift the blend towards physicality and did an ok job I thought. He signed Matic who clearly had it for a season+, which is Mourinhos MO, and Ibra who could do the same. I've always felt if Ibra had stayed fit we would have seen the best of that side that season, we were leaderless without him. Mourinho also brought through Mctominay and kept rashford as a wide option, brought in Pogba who had the potential to do it all in CM. It is clear what Lukaku and Fred bring too, although I think we were sold a playmaker in Fred which he is not. All in all I think Mourinho had the right ideas for his style, trying to up the physicality with each of his signings and youth team promotions, but clearly couldn't manage the dressing room beyond a point, as so often happens with him.
Ole from the start I think had a real lack of quality to work with, which has been remedied with the Bruno signing. He brought in defenders which to be fair was clearly a goal of the club, chasing maguire for a year before Ole came. He moved on Lukaku who didn't have the quality on the ball, but has had to bring in Cavani now to do that vacant role, which makes sense if you think Lukaku was unhappy and the club could cash back in. He has a strong preference in most games for a mcfred midfield, which brings the required level of industry and physicality for a counter attacking game but might be our lowest quality CM in many years, consistently struggling when we are forced to have the ball. I think our strongest front 4 have the best blend we have seen since SAF left, which incredible when you think we play a 19 year old striker at right wing most games.
Overall over 9 years I'd say the squad has shifted from higher on the quality scale to higher on the physicality scale, with age dropping as you'd expect. Bruno was the perfect signing, complementing an inexperienced, pacey squad. I think Ole's challenge now, if he does indeed get another window and another season, is to improve this blend in the key areas of the pitch - at cb we simply aren't quick enough, in CM we dont have the quality and if we put pogba in we don't see to have a partner that works with him, and if he leaves that complicates our job, and up front if cavani leaves we just don't have what he brings, and martial rashford and greenwood just aren't the right blend. I'd be disappointed if ole brought in another young prospect for any kind of money this summer, the gaps in the squad do make the diallo signing look insane if money stands in the way of adding to the squad.
Who had the best blend? Tempting to say Moyes since that squad won the title, but I do think a lot of that we can chalk to SAF magic. That squad looked so tired the following year and very quickly much worse the year after. I think i'd say Mourinho since he was able to add some real quality and that squad was optimised for him, hard to remember now how good matic looked initially, hard to overstate how influential Ibra was.
Some messy thoughts but something I was thinking about today
Who out of the managers since ferguson has got the best blend of the 3?
When I think about the squad moyes had, we had an absolute abundance of quality in ddg, rooney, rvp, carrick, rio, evra etc but lacked physicality due to age of squad and some younger players not really gelling with moyes, and to some extent lacked industry which i would put down to low physicality but especially to moyes not really getting through to the players. Fellaini was unpopular but brought some balance to the side ironically.
I think the squad LVG inherited was again high on quality, low on physicality and he exacerbated that that by jettisoning nani, rafael, falling with di maria who was an injection of pace, and bringing in a strange bunch of players. I think a real transition in playing staff was necessary but I can only assume we didn't have the recruitment staff in position because it really was scatter gun, by far the most successful signing being shaw who was identified the prior year. As for industry, we mostly just kept the ball knocking around the back so very hard to tell.
Mourinho clearly tried to shift the blend towards physicality and did an ok job I thought. He signed Matic who clearly had it for a season+, which is Mourinhos MO, and Ibra who could do the same. I've always felt if Ibra had stayed fit we would have seen the best of that side that season, we were leaderless without him. Mourinho also brought through Mctominay and kept rashford as a wide option, brought in Pogba who had the potential to do it all in CM. It is clear what Lukaku and Fred bring too, although I think we were sold a playmaker in Fred which he is not. All in all I think Mourinho had the right ideas for his style, trying to up the physicality with each of his signings and youth team promotions, but clearly couldn't manage the dressing room beyond a point, as so often happens with him.
Ole from the start I think had a real lack of quality to work with, which has been remedied with the Bruno signing. He brought in defenders which to be fair was clearly a goal of the club, chasing maguire for a year before Ole came. He moved on Lukaku who didn't have the quality on the ball, but has had to bring in Cavani now to do that vacant role, which makes sense if you think Lukaku was unhappy and the club could cash back in. He has a strong preference in most games for a mcfred midfield, which brings the required level of industry and physicality for a counter attacking game but might be our lowest quality CM in many years, consistently struggling when we are forced to have the ball. I think our strongest front 4 have the best blend we have seen since SAF left, which incredible when you think we play a 19 year old striker at right wing most games.
Overall over 9 years I'd say the squad has shifted from higher on the quality scale to higher on the physicality scale, with age dropping as you'd expect. Bruno was the perfect signing, complementing an inexperienced, pacey squad. I think Ole's challenge now, if he does indeed get another window and another season, is to improve this blend in the key areas of the pitch - at cb we simply aren't quick enough, in CM we dont have the quality and if we put pogba in we don't see to have a partner that works with him, and if he leaves that complicates our job, and up front if cavani leaves we just don't have what he brings, and martial rashford and greenwood just aren't the right blend. I'd be disappointed if ole brought in another young prospect for any kind of money this summer, the gaps in the squad do make the diallo signing look insane if money stands in the way of adding to the squad.
Who had the best blend? Tempting to say Moyes since that squad won the title, but I do think a lot of that we can chalk to SAF magic. That squad looked so tired the following year and very quickly much worse the year after. I think i'd say Mourinho since he was able to add some real quality and that squad was optimised for him, hard to remember now how good matic looked initially, hard to overstate how influential Ibra was.
Some messy thoughts but something I was thinking about today