Does who we sign next really matter anymore

[Sylar]

For the style we play and employ we would be better off getting lesser players to fit Jose system rather than attacking talent who don't fit it

Strange as it is but I bet a few mid table players would suit Jose style better than the superstars Ed wants
Mahrez would have given us better balance than Sanchez

 

[Axkiko]

Naturally I always excited to look forward which player we could buy, but I am not in these emotion anymore after we signed Sanchez. I felt United squad had lots of quality players, especially in attack. But our manager doesn't know the right way he should injects these attacking talents to the team.

I believe different manager with other approach, like Poch would bring the best of Martial and Rashford, even Pogba.

 

[Ronaldo's ego]

At this point I’d rather promote from the academy and sign young players who have potential than sign so called “stars” who turn to shit after three games. Sign young, hungry players who have everything to play for not multiple league and champions league winners who’ve done it all and come for a nice bumper payday. Also I’m sick of this makeshift nonsense, notably the left back position and wing areas. We need a transfer strategy to build a team with players playing in their best positions, not buying random big names just because they’re available.

 

[AndyJ1985]

At this point I’d rather promote from the academy and sign young players who have potential than sign so called “stars” who turn to shit after three games. Sign young, hungry players who have everything to play for not multiple league and champions league winners who’ve done it all and come for a nice bumper payday. Also I’m sick of this makeshift nonsense, notably the left back position and wing areas. We need a transfer strategy to build a team with players playing in their best positions, not buying random big names just because they’re available.

Other clubs sign star players and do just fine. The problem isn't signing them, the problem is how we use them. Whilst Mourinho is manager there's absolutely no point in signing attacking players.

 

[Shane88]

13/14: Mata. "This will be the catalyst to push Moyes' team on." Nope.

14/15: Di Maria, Falcao, Herrera, Blind, Shaw, Rojo. "Fecking incredible window. United are back!" Nope.

15/16: Martial, Depay, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Darmian. "The midfield is finally sorted. This is it." Nope.

16/17: Pogba, Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan, Bailly. "Stuff of dreams. Fifa-esque transfer window. We're back to the elite." Nope.

17/18: Lukaku, Matic, Lindelof. "Excellent window. Spine of the team hugely strengthened! Wait, Sanchez?! Watch out, Europe!" Nope.

It does not matter who we buy, we are in the European B tier now.

 

[Treble]

We're 2nd just because of DDG.

Yeah no. And that thing with Liverpool being 10 pts ahead is wrong too.

DDG was brilliant at times but we didn't just stumble upon 2nd.

Arsenal finished with 75 pts last season vs 69 pts for United. Were they the better team last season? Not to mention that they won a cup against a proper top team, and not vs Soton/Ajax. Were Liverpool a better team because they ended the season with 7 pts more than United?

This team hasn't created more chances than the opposition in any of the top 6 games this season. In any single game vs a top 6 opposition United have conceded more goal attempts, no matter whether home or away. DDG has been biggest the difference maker with Lukaku, Martial and Lingard contributing important goals too.

 

[Josep Dowling]

And yet we’re second, ahead of both Liverpool and Spurs and with a better goal difference.

So if he’s not getting the best out of his big signings, he deserves credit for what he’s done with the squad players and youngsters, no?

Liverpool and Spurs have a third, maybe even a quarter of our transfer budget though. This is on top of them both losing key players, yet have been able to recover by buying sensibly.

We can keep hold of the likes of De Gea purely because we can offer stupid contracts that these player would not otherwise get from any other club.

 

[An Irish Red]

We have a better squad than Sevilla and we still set up negatively against them. No signings will change that mentality and we'll still do it against anyone 'decent' next season.

 

[Feed Me]

It absolutely does not matter who we sign from now on.

The issues with the club run deeper than the playing personnel.

 

[whatwha]

A couple people bringing up Falcao as an example of a great player turning to shit here... Anything to suit the new narrative.

 

[redNATION]

Other clubs sign star players and do just fine. The problem isn't signing them, the problem is how we use them. Whilst Mourinho is manager there's absolutely no point in signing attacking players.

We could have Ronaldo and still fail to play any decent attacking football. Remember, Jose had a prime Ronaldo for 3 years st Real and failed win the CL. Ancelotti and zidane come along and win it in their first seasons, with largely the same squad. It’s clear that he struggles to get the best out of attacking talent.

 

[Bobski]

Concentrate on getting the best out of what we have rather than dreaming of big money signings saving us. We have tried that for years, to no avail.

 

[SER19]

No. We've signed Pogba di Maria Sanchez Matic in recent years, all players who were among the best in the world in their position when signed and other than Matic regressed or failed miserably. (Obviously scope to turn it around for two) Despite all being different managers the issues seem largely the same under each of the three post fergie though mourinho has obviously made the most progress.

There seems to be a genuine stagnation in the club have 5 years since we won a title have just flown by. This is no longer a post fergie dip, this is where were at and the way back to the top seems very long.

Last night gave me some real home truths and I genuinely think we could sign griezmann and Neymar and not see a huge improvement without something else changing. We do need more leaders - not neccessarily new signings but we need at least two players to step up and say enough is enough. When things aren't going well we look weak, unambitious, scared, lacking desire, belief or any sense that the current level is not good enough.

I think we will lose de gea this summer too, which won't help matters

 

[doomy20]

This will be the first summer were i really hope we do not sign any new players. And especially not creative, shiny luxury players like Dybala or Griezmann. They would be midtable material after 3 months anyway.
We have a squad full of young, sympathical, talented and motivated guys - find a way to play them right but please do not add more and more individuals to this club.

 

[doomy20]

13/14: Mata. "This will be the catalyst to push Moyes' team on." Nope.

14/15: Di Maria, Falcao, Herrera, Blind, Shaw, Rojo. "Fecking incredible window. United are back!" Nope.

15/16: Martial, Depay, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Darmian. "The midfield is finally sorted. This is it." Nope.

16/17: Pogba, Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan, Bailly. "Stuff of dreams. Fifa-esque transfer window. We're back to the elite." Nope.

17/18: Lukaku, Matic, Lindelof. "Excellent window. Spine of the team hugely strengthened! Wait, Sanchez?! Watch out, Europe!" Nope.

It does not matter who we buy, we are in the European B tier now.

This.

 

[Jig1234]

This is a good thread and the answer is no. Mourinho is not a progressive coach. He has Martial, Rashford, Pogba & Sanchez. Two of the players he wanted and signed but he can only get a tune out of Ashley Young and Valencia. We have no identity or style of play, because of this, we will always see performances like we did vs Sevilla. Mourinho will always set up to stop the opposition and when it does not work. He will come out with the rubbish excuses he came out with last night. I would move him on because I think he is wasting everyone's time. I don't think he will deliver a PL or CL at Utd and that was he was brought in to win. I think we need a more progressive coach who can work with the players he has, to develop a style that complements them.

 

[Kaos]

People are delusional if they think a few transfers will change things. Our squad is good enough. Our manager isn't.

Exactly, SAF has won titles with far less impressive squads.

 

[Judas]

It’s very hard to get excited about new players when we’ve managed to make Sanchez look like a pub player. We keep buying shiny toys and it’s not exactly panning out too well is it.

 

[C3Pique]

Look on the brigt side guys. We only need 3 starting quality defenders, 2 starting quality midfielders, and 1 starting quality winger

 

[Reddevildans]

This. We've signed some of the biggest names in world football in the past few 5 seasons and seen no progress in playing style. We simply haven't had a way of playing since 2008-2009. We've had three managers with huge contrasts in playing style. It's gone to that stage where some United fans rather see exciting attacking football at the expense of results.

I would give Jose another year. Another two transfer windows. He's got his pragmatic ways but he's a winner. Once he sets the foundations of a good squad by addressing the midfield and full back positions we can hire a more modern coach with modern ideas that would improve our brand of football.

 

[Ashley R1+O]

What is with the pity party?

Of course it does! We're missing two fullbacks plus change, we've got a licorice all-sorts going on up front with strikers playing 10, wingers playing fullback, strikers playing wing, wingers playing up front.

It absolutely, 100% matters who we sign in the summer. We've got three crucial positions to fill at RB-LB and RW. We need to execute.

 

[Nytram Shakes]

well yes it matters, city are likely to dominate for the next yer at least so player we want to buy need to be coming into their peak around the 19/20 season

So i would probably say don't buy any one older then 26.

 

[glazed]

All this anti Jose stuff is a bit hysterical and bed wetting imho. We know he likes to play functional aggressive football, and last night wasn't that. He obviously planned a defensively strong performance because of the away goal risk and it blew up in his face because players didn't perform. It happens. He's nowhere near the incompetent that we had with Moyes and LVG..and I was an early member of the out campaign for both of them.

Yes he puts noses out of joint, and that means some players don't perform for him. And yes, that eventually will be his undoing, maybe sooner rather than later. But I'd rather that than the pandering to underperforming overpaid entitled big names we saw under the last two managers.

Liverpool on Saturday was the true Jose. Sh#t on a stick football but a win. If that's not what the club wanted, they shouldn't have hired him in the first place.

 

[doomy20]

What is with the pity party?

Of course it does! We're missing two fullbacks plus change, we've got a licorice all-sorts going on up front with strikers playing 10, wingers playing fullback, strikers playing wing, wingers playing up front.

It absolutely, 100% matters who we sign in the summer. We've got three crucial positions to fill at RB-LB and RW. We need to execute.

It´s not about that. We are going with that "we are missing this we are missing that" stuff since 4 years now. "We are missing a proper Ronaldo successor, we are missing a 20+ goals per season striker, we are missing our lost son Pogba, we need to fix our CM ...". We have adressed so many problems the past summers, spending unbelievable amounts of money. There will never be the perfect team, nowhere. Should City complain that they don´t have a DDG?
Our squad is good enough, we need to make sure they play up to their potential.

 

[Turnip]

I don't see that it does. We've signed one of the best midfielders in the world and an attacker who was carrying his team into the top 4 as well as a striker who performed better at West Brom and Everton and we can't put an attack together for shit.

I can see why we needed to, and there are still areas which would easily be improved personnel wise, but there are enough good players here to be playing better than we are.

 

[Livvie]

Things were worse under LvG.

People seem to have forgotten the night at Wolfsburg...

That might be like saying deafness is better than blindness. I'e always liked Jose but am wavering Fed up with seeing players used out of position...and it's a worry that players who come to us deteriorate

 

[Rob Bowman]

Okay... trying to offer a bit of hope as even I am pretty down.

i believe part of our problem is Jose does not trust our center backs. As such so much of our CM need to stay home and are not allowed to roam. When i think of some Jose teams, yes they were disciplined but they still had thrust and menace.

I am hoping some quality center backs has a ripple effect across the pitch... maybe like signing Carrick adjusted so much across the pitch...

Here's hoping anyway.

 

[Revaulx]

Post like this are so stupid, ignoring this tie and concentrating on the league is it Mourinho being a dinosaur that saw us loose to Huddersfield? Of course it isn't because you don't need Pep Guardiola in the dugout to beat Huddersfield, or Stoke or Leicester or any of the other games we've dropped points in that's cost us the league

To answer the OP yes it does matter who we sign next because fundermentally the players we have still aren't good enough proven by the fact that very few are happy with the likes of Smalling and Young in defence, very few are happy when the likes of Herrera and Fellaini play in midfield and quite a number question whether the likes of Lingard and Mata are good enough in attack

You are quite right. What we need is top class players like Pogba and Sanchez.

Oh wait...

 

[charlenefan]

You are quite right. What we need is top class players like Pogba and Sanchez.

Oh wait...

Just buying top class players isn't enough it has to be the right top class players

Now I'm not suggesting Pogba was a wrong fit for the club but he's clearly not going to do the 2 man midfield job Jose wanted him to do
Sanchez on the other hand is now looking like an odd purchase, we're not playing him on the right so why buy him at all if it means is younger players like Rashford and Martial are moved from their preferred positions?

Player recruitment does have to be much better in the summer

 

[SkeppyRed]

If we still have any of Jones, Smalling, Herrera, Young or Fellaini in our first XI come August then expect another season of underachievement.

These players are synonymous with it yet managers come and go while the useless cnuts are still here.

 

[Smores]

This is ridiculous, we've improved this season and we'll improve next.

The way some of the posts come across if we'd have spent half the money but got the same output then you'd be content.That's an odd outlook.

 

[Judas]

We've improved statistically, but have performances got that much better? Are we anymore enjoyable to watch? It's all well and good slogging to wins over Liverpool, we'll take that, but against the rubbish teams when we're playing the same style? Bit pathetic really.

 

[PepsiCola]

A couple people bringing up Falcao as an example of a great player turning to shit here... Anything to suit the new narrative.

Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Pogba, Mkhi, Sanchez
...narrative?

 

[Canagel]

13/14: Mata. "This will be the catalyst to push Moyes' team on." Nope.

14/15: Di Maria, Falcao, Herrera, Blind, Shaw, Rojo. "Fecking incredible window. United are back!" Nope.

15/16: Martial, Depay, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Darmian. "The midfield is finally sorted. This is it." Nope.

16/17: Pogba, Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan, Bailly. "Stuff of dreams. Fifa-esque transfer window. We're back to the elite." Nope.

17/18: Lukaku, Matic, Lindelof. "Excellent window. Spine of the team hugely strengthened! Wait, Sanchez?! Watch out, Europe!" Nope.

It does not matter who we buy, we are in the European B tier now.

Our approach to transfers since the SAF left has been all over the place. Hiring 3 defensive coaches has compounded the issue. This club has become a graveyard for players with talent and flair. Just look at some of the high profile names we've bought. And we make them look like pub players.

 

[Revaulx]

Okay... trying to offer a bit of hope as even I am pretty down.

i believe part of our problem is Jose does not trust our center backs. As such so much of our CM need to stay home and are not allowed to roam. When i think of some Jose teams, yes they were disciplined but they still had thrust and menace.

I am hoping some quality center backs has a ripple effect across the pitch... maybe like signing Carrick adjusted so much across the pitch...

Here's hoping anyway.

He’s signed two already. One is well down the pecking order, the other was shambolic last night.

 

[Dave1812]

No I don't think it does this is a tactical and style problem. And if he doesn't change it will end in 1 way.

 

[Raees]

No it really doesn't. Until you don't have a proper structure in place, even if you are playing 5 aside casually or sunday league 11 aside.. you could have a team full of great individual talents, but with no cohesion, no chemistry, no shared work rate or will to win, no shared vision across the entire team.. you'll play like strangers and get beat.

United honestly need to have a self-imposed transfer ban, get in new management and work on building that structure on the pitch, getting a proper vision together of how they want to approach any given game of football and then in the future buy players who are aligned to that overarching vision.

At the moment there is a scattergun approach to tactics on the pitch, and similarly in our transfers too. The club is a mess IMO and the eye test tells me all I need to know.. feck the league table, we have been very fortunate to get some results when our performances didn't merit it against a vast number of teams and it is time people acknowledged that in the board too and changes are made.

This shambles has been going on even since the latter Fergie years where performances were clearly failing the eye test, but results and revenue kept pouring through.. and everyone thought we are all good, but results began to take a turn for a worse under Moyes, LVG.. now we've spent shit loads, and there has been marginal improvements in terms of performances, and a very fortunate improvement in results but overall.. still nowhere near good enough because the underling issue which is 'performances' has not been addressed. It keeps getting overlooked.

 

[Dave1812]

No this is a tactical and style problem and if he doesn't change it will end in 1 way.

 

[Sensei]

All this anti Jose stuff is a bit hysterical and bed wetting imho. We know he likes to play functional aggressive football, and last night wasn't that. He obviously planned a defensively strong performance because of the away goal risk and it blew up in his face because players didn't perform. It happens. He's nowhere near the incompetent that we had with Moyes and LVG..and I was an early member of the out campaign for both of them.

Yes he puts noses out of joint, and that means some players don't perform for him. And yes, that eventually will be his undoing, maybe sooner rather than later. But I'd rather that than the pandering to underperforming overpaid entitled big names we saw under the last two managers.

Liverpool on Saturday was the true Jose. Sh#t on a stick football but a win. If that's not what the club wanted, they shouldn't have hired him in the first place.

But when it works out, it isn't the players but tactical masterclass?

 

[Thiim]

Yes, because altough the manager has a big impact on the football we play, I'd say we dont really have the players to play the kind of football we want to see. We have defenders who are generally awkward on the ball, unable to build attacks from the back, a very rigid and slow midfield, no traditional wingers of the required quality.

I also think this was one of the reasons Pep chose the easy option of going to City.

We have bought very poorly for a very long time.