Does who we sign next really matter anymore

beedoubleyou

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De Gea - fair enough
Jones, Smalling, Carrick and young though? Come on mate. I know these players have won the league but Jones and Smalling weren't key to that, and Carrick is a champion but past it.
As for Young? He's not good enough, he wasn't when we won the league with him.
I think it's fair enough to look at Tuesday night and be a bit perplexed, I'm feeling the same way. But all I'm saying is the squad he took over wasn't littered with actual champions, not like your Rios, Vidas etc
Ps I missed out Mata, he's a great player and has done well overall under Jose thankfully, I wish he played more though.
Yes, I wouldn't disagree (though I am a big fan of Jones and Smalling). I'm just saying that comparing Mourinho's situation to SAF's in the 80s isn't fair.
 

noodlehair

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Agree with all of this, particularly the last bit, which is why for all Jose’s faults I really don’t see any virtue in getting rid.

Re. the bolded bit: I’m still not sure that’s happening even now. Pogba = marketing and sentimental reasons. Sánchez = big name and available. Not that they aren’t (theoretically) good players.
Yeah. I'm just going by what Jose said in his first season, about identifying four types of player he wanted and being fairly sure of getting three of them. I don't think he said "sign Pogba", "sign Sanchez" etc.

We have a habit of signing players post Gill/Ferguson, who either have nothing left to prove or who think they don't have anything to prove...and we almost seem to sign them on a whim. I can guarantee you wont be reading any stories about Woodward and Jose/LVG/Moyes/whoever going to meet a player's family, or researching their backround etc.

You might be right about it not just being the first couple of years. All I can go on is that, for all of his faults, there is no way LVG said "sign me Di Maria and Falcao and then I'll decide if I want them or not"

I do genuinely think the main problem post Ferguson is coming from above the manager...whatever manager we get seems to struggle to implement any kind of plan, all three have moaned to the press about things happening too slowly in regards to contracts, signings etc. Jose has even now done it while under employment by the club and LVG hinted at it while he was working here more than once.
 

Dec9003

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Yes, I wouldn't disagree (though I am a big fan of Jones and Smalling). I'm just saying that comparing Mourinho's situation to SAF's in the 80s isn't fair.
Yeah I absolutely agree, even disregarding the state of the squads both managers took over, we're a much bigger club with much bigger expectations now. That's thanks to the manager that took over the arguably worse squad as well, so Jose has a lot to do still to reach the clubs expectations.
 

redshaw

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I often feel a lot of the signings are by the club like Luke Shaw, Martial, Mkhitaryan. Morgan. Jose didn't seem to have a plan with Mkhi and Jose left him out early on, just doesn't feel like a Jose signing. Di Maria seems like another. Other clubs do well at this, doesn't matter who the manager is.

A common theme though is whether it's a club or manager signing, the players who've come in look shattered and frustrated after 10 games under all three managers.

Ultimately it's been a quick fix mentality since Mata in my view, from the board, and managers.

Depay was another lets buy before someone else does, like a committee signing. The left wing has seen too many players trying to fill one role and now we've bought Sanchez, we won't play him on the right and I think he should've played centrally against Sevilla. Why do we keep flooding the left with players and upsetting others.
 
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Revaulx

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Yeah. I'm just going by what Jose said in his first season, about identifying four types of player he wanted and being fairly sure of getting three of them. I don't think he said "sign Pogba", "sign Sanchez" etc.

We have a habit of signing players post Gill/Ferguson, who either have nothing left to prove or who think they don't have anything to prove...and we almost seem to sign them on a whim. I can guarantee you wont be reading any stories about Woodward and Jose/LVG/Moyes/whoever going to meet a player's family, or researching their backround etc.

You might be right about it not just being the first couple of years. All I can go on is that, for all of his faults, there is no way LVG said "sign me Di Maria and Falcao and then I'll decide if I want them or not"

I do genuinely think the main problem post Ferguson is coming from above the manager...whatever manager we get seems to struggle to implement any kind of plan, all three have moaned to the press about things happening too slowly in regards to contracts, signings etc. Jose has even now done it while under employment by the club and LVG hinted at it while he was working here more than once.
Once again the real gold is in your last paragraph. Too much seems to rest on Ed’s shoulders. He’s clearly a bright and capable chap, and a quick learner, but his main focus is on keeping the Glazers happy rather than ensuring the manager’s plan gets full backing (i.e. not just providing the cash). I’m well aware that a Director of Football is not a guaranteed panacea, and brings its own problems, but the appointment of one would at least be an acknowledgement from the club that the existing structure isn’t working.
 

dogwithabone

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To be fair pretty much every club had a drinking culture back then...it was part of the game. I just think he deserves support for one more season. He inherited a pretty disjointed team. Moyes had got rid of all the Fergie's backroom staff and pissed off a lot of the established players. LVG was....well, what can we say that hasn't been. I think the state of the club when Mourinho took over was in a much worse state than he or anybody really knew.

Really ?

Remind me who were the hardened drinkers in the great Liverpool teams of the 80’s. If there were any they couldn’t hold a candle to the likes of Robson, McGrath, Whiteside etc from the team Fergie inherited.
 

Dion

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It's posts like these that make me worry about posters on here sometimes. There's some red flags for major depressive symptoms in the OP and some of the comments.
 

togg

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Shaken, and very stirred......
It's posts like these that make me worry about posters on here sometimes. There's some red flags for major depressive symptoms in the OP and some of the comments.
Well...I wouldn't create worry for yourself. A lot of what you read on the Caf is a stream of consciousness! Fleetingly made in the moment. Then they are off doing real things in their real lives, including myself! I don't take this place seriously at all, otherwise one would go insane :)
 
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Ayush_reddevil

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It's posts like these that make me worry about posters on here sometimes. There's some red flags for major depressive symptoms in the OP and some of the comments.
:lol::lol::lol: Thanks for your kind words but i am not depressed . Disappointed and angry for sure but that also kind of lasts only a couple of days after a loss now
 

Jonno

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So are you satisfied with what you've seen so far, and the team's progress? Do you like this style?
I don’t like the style, but I love winning. We are in far better shape now under Mourinho than we were when he took over.

In and around 4th-7th to firmly 2nd, back in the Champions League every year, better quality of squad, better winning mentality.

Awful performance against Sevilla though, from the players and the manager
 

Ali Dia

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I think this post sums up everything that's ridiculous about this forum right now. Calling Jose a dinosaur and wanting after the hipster choice of manager who is below us in the table with the leagues best striker.
I think Fergie would have been the hipsters choice back then too. Consistently getting the most out of the Aberdeen team on a lower budget, super hands on. Good football etc.
 

Red4Life_#7

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I don’t like the style, but I love winning. We are in far better shape now under Mourinho than we were when he took over.

In and around 4th-7th to firmly 2nd, back in the Champions League every year, better quality of squad, better winning mentality.

Awful performance against Sevilla though, from the players and the manager
Totally agree with this!
 

KanieKaned

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I think that anyone can see that this isn't about the quality of players we get anymore , unlike the lvg era we are now in a great position to move on with a progressive manager . Is there really anyone that we could sign who would change us if Jose remained the manager? We have been 7th and had a lot of shit losses but this is the worst I have felt since fergie left because before this I always thought that we would become better but now I am certain that we won't sack Jose and it is not going to better
Those most important addition we could add to what we have is an attacking coach and for the manager to then insist the squad attacks as a unit. We have shown we can defend its going at teams without fear thats the issue. Impose ourselves on teams and make them fear us again.
 

Deleted member 101472

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Assuming the signings had proved successful (and in one players case he was still able to play at a high level which considering what pirlo did isn’t too hard to fathom) we could have been able to play a midfield of

Matic
Schweinsteiger
Pogba

And had a forward line of

Di Maria
Falcao
Sanchez


You have two of those players for all intents and purposes nowhere near the level expected, and 3 flops.

This is forgetting all about Mkhitaryan, schneiderlin, Depay and a few other debatables.

So really, in answer to the thread title it doesn’t matter one bit who we sign, it’s who signs them and who tells them how they want them to play on the field.

I’m left with no other logical conclusion that we have yet to employ the correct coaching staff (from top to bottom) since SAF retired.