Ed Woodward 2017-2018 edition

[Bastian]

We are watching our neighbours building a team that is laughing all the way to the title. The board needs to unreservedly invest in Jose's vision. Ask him what he needs and give it to him.

If Jose is supposed to play beautiful attacking football, supply him with the talent required.

 

[Member 5225]

What makes you think we haven't already?

 

[Skills]

Ah feck off. It's always everyone but the managers fault.

 

[DWelbz19]

FFS

Literally anybody but Mourinho has to take blame

 

[walkinhop]

We are watching our neighbours building a team that is laughing all the way to the title. The board needs to unreservedly invest in Jose's vision. Ask him what he needs and give it to him.

If Jose is supposed to play beautiful attacking football, supply him with the talent required.

I'd rather we invested in another man's vision.

 

[SAFicus]

Its basically the cold war all over again.

The Communist USSR vs the Capitalist USA.

We are the USSR and if you recall the USA just outspent them and won.

There is no competing with city on a financial level so fans should just give up stop funneling money into the sport and make these rich pricks feck off due to poor returns.

 

[DWelbz19]

Its basically the cold war all over again.

The Communist USSR vs the Capitalist USA.

We are the USSR and if you recall the USA just outspent them and won.

There is no competing with city on a financial level so fans should just give up stop funneling money into the sport and make these rich pricks feck off due to poor returns.

Incredible.

 

[Home&Away]

Jose doesn't have a vision otherwise he would play a ball playing CB in defence who has just that.

His tactics & type of players are getting outdated really fast - players that he can buy that suits his style of game are going down in number consistently year by year & being replaced by players who play football in a different way to how he wants.

The guy won't drop lukaku at all an 75mil pound striker - that is his vision; to have players crossing the ball in front lukaku in the box. That is it. There really isn't many people who play football like that anymore.

 

[Bastian]

I'm not saying Jose is infallible by any means. But he's the manager we've got and he's up against a blank cheque Guardiola. That's the reality. There are definitely things Jose could have done today that could have better impacted the match, this goes for every manager.

If anyone thinks I'm blaming this defeat on Woodward, they are missing a brain. No one expected City to have the season they are having, but they've raised the bar and we need major additions if we are to truly compete.

 

[AndyJ1985]

Woodward isn't to blame. It's the managers since Ferguson who have squandered hundreds of millions of pounds. If I were in charge of United I'd invest in DOF like all the other big clubs have.

 

[FreakyJim]

Jose asked for Lukaku. Woodward provided.

It's not Woodward's fault Lukaku played like poor man's Heskey.

 

[Hawks2008]

To be fair, you can't blame Woody for our play or results. That's the manager's job so don't try to shift the responsibility off of Jose. He is not failing in his duties I feel, he brings in money for the club and has supplied Jose with everything he's asked for bar Perisic (which was for the best IMO). However, you bring up City, what city are doing now with Pep has been in the pipeline for a long time. They've been preparing for Guardiola for years and what we are seeing in City now is the culmination of that long-term planning. We have on the other hand have been very scattergun with our approach, there is no such vision in place at our club now. The question is, is that Woodward's fault? As much has Jose has stopped our free fall, I'm not sure he's the right fit.

 

[Coops73]

Its basically the cold war all over again.

The Communist USSR vs the Capitalist USA.

We are the USSR and if you recall the USA just outspent them and won.

There is no competing with city on a financial level so fans should just give up stop funneling money into the sport and make these rich pricks feck off due to poor returns.

Eh?

 

[Rajma]

I'm not saying Jose is infallible by any means. But he's the manager we've got and he's up against a blank cheque Guardiola. That's the reality. There are definitely things Jose could have done today that could have better impacted the match, this goes for every manager.

If anyone thinks I'm blaming this defeat on Woodward, they are missing a brain. No one expected City to have the season they are having, but they've raised the bar and we need major additions if we are to truly compete.

He spent 80m on Lukaku, he can't complain.

 

[RORY65]

Do he and the board give a shit about playing fluent, exciting, attacking football? If so, why have they gone for 3 quite negative managers in a row who all arguably peaked in previous decades? I didn't want Mourinho but I'm not sure he should be getting blamed for things that the club should have known when they appointed him (limited attacking game reliant on individuals, confrontational style of management etc).

 

[FreakyJim]

Woodward isn't to blame. It's the managers since Ferguson who have squandered hundreds of millions of pounds. If I were in charge of United I'd invest in DOF like all the other big clubs have.

Easy to say but do our club even have any idea where it wants to go? Who would that director be? What's his ideas of football style and players?

Imo we're on autopilot. Academy teams have no identity, we just collect young players and kick the ball around.

 

[Random Task]

Its basically the cold war all over again.

The Communist USSR vs the Capitalist USA.

We are the USSR and if you recall the USA just outspent them and won.

There is no competing with city on a financial level so fans should just give up stop funneling money into the sport and make these rich pricks feck off due to poor returns.

That is quite possibly the single most inappropriate analogy ever to be used on this forum.

Made me laugh, though. I needed it.

 

[SAFicus]

Eh?

The guy is talking about trying to outspend a group with almost limitless spending power.

There is a clear analogy.

 

[Cassidy]

We are watching our neighbours building a team that is laughing all the way to the title. The board needs to unreservedly invest in Jose's vision. Ask him what he needs and give it to him.

If Jose is supposed to play beautiful attacking football, supply him with the talent required.

Jose has spent an awful lot of money already. Not Woodwards fault he hasn't invested it well enough

EDIT: Also Jose clearly doesn't want to play beautiful attacking football, if thats what the club wanted they should have hired someone else

 

[SAFicus]

That is quite possibly the single most inappropriate analogy ever to be used on this forum.

Made me laugh, though. I needed it.

That's something at least.

Maybe it is nonsense, but we could all use a laugh right now so good for you.

 

[Drainy]

Javier Ribalta has been brought in for a reason.

 

[Bastian]

Is anyone talking about outspending City? I did not notice that.

 

[Van Piorsing]

Ed would splash the cash on Griezmann if not loyalty reasons, hardly his fault... other than that, Manchester United will have to adapt to current situation or end like Arsenal.

Javier Ribalta has been brought in for a reason.

Aye, valid scouting could also help big deal.

 

[Bastian]

Jose has spent an awful lot of money already. Not Woodwards fault he hasn't invested it well enough

I'd say Pogba and Matic are pretty superb purchases and have quite obviously improved a side that was lacking any sort of an identity and belief. Lindelof is too early to judge. Lukaku is very limited and we paid a huge price for him. Hopefully he'll prove his doubters wrong, though I'm not counting on it.

Given the bar's been raised, we need to act accordingly.

 

[Son Of Sam]

Jose has spent an awful lot of money already. Not Woodwards fault he hasn't invested it well enough

Jose hasn’t spent an awful lot of money. I ain’t buying that. He met a very broken squad. How many of the players Moyes/LVG brought to the club would SAF or Jose himself would have signed.

We should be spending £600m to get rid of the deadwood brought in. When Jose came in, we had only 3-4 good players, the others are just rubbish. On top of it, we had 2 of our best defenders and the most creative player in the squad missing.

In most big teams, the absence of one player should not drop the winning % of the team from 87% to 40% cos they have other creative players to fill in the gap. In United’s case, the absence of Pogba automatically turns our 3 points to 1 point or zero. That is not good enough!

 

[Heardy]

It's depressing to see us outplayed as we were today given the amount we've spent in the sat few years.

 

[AXVnee7]

I'm not saying Jose is infallible by any means. But he's the manager we've got and he's up against a blank cheque Guardiola. That's the reality. There are definitely things Jose could have done today that could have better impacted the match, this goes for every manager.

If anyone thinks I'm blaming this defeat on Woodward, they are missing a brain. No one expected City to have the season they are having, but they've raised the bar and we need major additions if we are to truly compete.

I agree with you mostly, but the board has invested in Jose. There's no way he hasn't had enough to spend. OK he might not have infinite amounts like Guardiola, but that's not likely to change under the current ownership. We have to find other ways close the gap to City.

 

[Coops73]

The guy is talking about trying to outspend a group with almost limitless spending power.

There is a clear analogy.

Ah right! Cheers, clear as mud.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Jose couldn't play beautiful football with Messi.

 

[wolvored]

one or two have already said the difference post money City and post Fergie Utd is that City have a game plan to play attractive possession play and we have just bought 2 negative managers and an outdated one in, all with varying ideas of how to play the game so there is no logical structure. Even the academy teams get turned over regular by Citys. Woody either needs to come up with a plan of how we are going to play for the next decade, pick the managers who play to that and stick by it, or get a DOF to do it for him.

 

[crappycraperson]

Can't blame the board, we have spent loads. Fergie did not ask the club to match Chelsea's spending and still got the better of them in the end. No reason why we should compete with City now in the money league. Buy the top players for big bucks when needed but we can't keep shipping in and out 50m + players like them.

 

[Cassidy]

Jose hasn’t spent an awful lot of money. I ain’t buying that. He met a very broken squad. How many of the players Moyes/LVG brought to the club would SAF or Jose himself would have signed.

We should be spending £600m to get rid of the deadwood brought in. When Jose came in, we had only 3-4 good players, the others are just rubbish. On top of it, we had 2 of our best defenders and the most creative player in the squad missing.

In most big teams, the absence of one player should not drop the winning % of the team from 87% to 40% cos they have other creative players to fill in the gap. In United’s case, the absence of Pogba automatically turns our 3 points to 1 point or zero. That is not good enough!

Jose has signed 7 players, no point making excuses now. Your point about players missing is pointless as my statement wasn't based on this game alone.
Its clear Jose isn't interested in playing attractive football and apart from Pogba, Jose hasn't added any attacking player to the squad which has been good enough. Actually let me take that back Ibra was a good signing.

Mhiki and Lukaku waste of money.

We really didn't need to sign Lindelof even if he turns out good, we have Tuanzebe who could have come into the side. We need serious investment in creative attacking talent. Jose hasn't added enough of that, and Mhiki and Lukaku certainly isn't the level we need at all

 

[vidic blood & sand]

We are watching our neighbours building a team that is laughing all the way to the title. The board needs to unreservedly invest in Jose's vision. Ask him what he needs and give it to him.

If Jose is supposed to play beautiful attacking football, supply him with the talent required.

What the????

Mourinho needs to spend it more responsibly than he has.

 

[Catt]

Ed would splash the cash on Griezmann if not loyalty reasons, hardly his fault... other than that, Manchester United will have to adapt to current situation or end like Arsenal.


Aye, valid scouting could also help big deal.

Nothing comparable between Utd and what Arsenal have been doing.

 

[Bastian]

Jose's transfer record for United:

Mkhitaryan 27-30m
Bailly 30m
Pogba 90m
Matic 40m
Lukaku 75-90m
Lindelof 30m?

Bailly, Pogba and Matic are great purchases. I'd argue that Mkhi has decent re-sale value and wasn't bought for a lot of money. Maybe he can solve his lack of consistency, he's outrageously talented, but enormously disappointing. Lindelof is still getting to grips with the move and Lukaku is maybe the only purchase that isn't what we needed.

And then there is Zlatan who brought character and a winning mentality to a squad that was crying out for it last season.

His transfer record is pretty good IMV.

How much did LVG spend? If someone can adjust that for inflation to compare with Jose's budget, we can better judge that. Add to that that Jose inherited a squad with little quality and balance.

 

[Son Of Sam]

Jose has signed 7 players, no point making excuses now. Your point about players missing is pointless as my statement wasn't based on this game alone.
Its clear Jose isn't interested in playing attractive football and apart from Pogba, Jose hasn't added any attacking player to the squad which has been good enough.

Mhiki and Lukaku waste of money

Pep has signed 15 players which renders your argument null & void. The OP is correct, Jose hasn’t been backed as much as Pep.

 

[Minimalist]

Woodward has spent a lot of money to be fair. Not quite understanding why he should expect these types of performances we're seeing against the better sides.

 

[Cassidy]

Jose's transfer record for United:

Mkhitaryan 27-30m
Bailly 30m
Pogba 90m
Matic 40m
Lukaku 75-90m
Lindelof 30m?

Bailly, Pogba and Matic are great purchases. I'd argue that Mkhi has decent re-sale value and wasn't bought for a lot of money. Maybe he can solve his lack of consistency, he's outrageously talented, but enormously disappointing. Lindelof is still getting to grips with the move and Lukaku is maybe the only purchase that isn't what we needed.

And then there is Zlatan who brought character and a winning mentality to a squad that was crying out for it last season.

His transfer record is pretty good IMV.

How much to LVG spend? If someone can adjust that for inflation to compare with Jose's budget, we can better judge that. Add to that that Jose inherited a squad with little quality and balance.

Why compare with LVG, is that the bench mark?

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

We have spent money.

We've not spent it well though overall arguably.

 

[JohnnyKills]

That is quite possibly the single most inappropriate analogy ever to be used on this forum.

Made me laugh, though. I needed it.

Haha yeah thought the same.

Given City's owners come from a country with no respect for democracy, and our owners are actually American, it seems misplaced to say the least.