ESPN: Man United missed all of Solskjaer's targets including Sancho, Grealish - sources

[Santoryo]

The reason he needs a CB is because the one he bought last season for a WR fee is bang average. If he lived up to his price tag we wouldn't need one this summer.

The reason we need a RW is because he bought a RB who's dogshit going forward. So we now need to replace one of our best forwards for the fact he bought a RB who offers absolute feck all in attack. Guess what, even if we got Sancho that right side would still be pathetic cause you can't play football with a RB as useless at AWB on the ball.

Very well said. I'm all for blaming the board and everything but surely people ought to put things into perspective at some point.

Ole's last summer expensive acquisitions have so far been giant waste of money. 130m on Maguire and AWB and the defensive is still awful for some odd reasons. I mean what does Sancho have to do us failing to defense a simple throw in? Imagine starting the game well, being on the scoreboard in the first minute just for your WR signing to feck up some very basic stuff at the back which set you back in the game.

Now we need another top defender when that 80 millions spent on a single defender should have seen much improvement let alone 130 millions on 2 defenders. we don't have an infinite pool of money to just piss away then get back in the market an buy another expensive flop if it doesn't work out.

 

[Skills]

Why does Solskjaer not come out and question the board/Woodward?

Chances are he doesn't have a huge amount of time left in the job anyway. Go down swinging, not quietly accepting them fecking you over.

Because even Ole knows the only place he's heading after United is somewhere back in Norway. He's hanging onto his dream job for as long as possible, and even in Norway he'll struggle for a job if he's openly insubordinate.

 

[Santoryo]

And you are assuming those players are ones Ole has asked for because.....the media claims so?

What you think AWB and Maguire were Woodward players and weren't requested by Ole? Those 2 are Ole's players when he was trying to attempt to build his British core which spectacularly backfired so far. 130 millions could have gotten us 2 genuine top defenders but instead we got an overpriced CB and a RB who hasn't got much footballing abilities nor defensive positional senses.

 

[He'sRaldo]

These aren't marquee big name signings we were interested in, we wanted the next generation of superior talent.

Unfortunately Grealish and Sancho would be very expensive, so it would take a lot to justify their price tag.

Pogba similarly was young when he moved, as was Ousmane Dembele and we might as well throw in Joao Felix. Next generation doesn't matter if it doesn't work out, and at that size of fee it is quite the risk.

Someone like Bruno or Mane who moved for a more modest fee and is now at a very high level will definitely be preferable to the fans, regardless of what they say right now.

 

[VivaObertan]

So you have also conveniently excluded James, I wonder why?

Are you talking about the same Maguire who cost us £80m when he hasn't done much better than Smalling and Lindelof who we have sold the former for a quarter of his price....

Because James wasn't bought as a starter - I said that above... he was a £15m punt on potential.

Lindelof is still at the club isn't he? and Smalling was sold for £20m, he's 31 in a few weeks and was surplus to requirements...

 

[romufc]

The reason he needs a CB is because the one he bought last season for a WR fee is bang average. If he lived up to his price tag we wouldn't need one this summer.

The reason we need a RW is because he bought a RB who's dogshit going forward. So we now need to replace one of our best forwards for the fact he bought a RB who offers absolute feck all in attack. Guess what, even if we got Sancho that right side would still be pathetic cause you can't play football with a RB as useless at AWB on the ball.

So, it is the manager's fault?
Remember this? Manchester United ‘hiring crack team of eight data specialists’ to identify transfer bargains after series of big-money flops

So, if the manager says I want x, y, z player the club does not do its due diligence?

Maguire was a club target before Ole.

I agree the manager has to get the best out the players we have. I also agree that Sancho would have solved none of our problems. The problem is the manager continuously playing 5 attacking players with 4 of them not having any defensive duties.

 

[liamp]

Maybe they should have gone for more realistic targets in this troubled time. Every season United try to sign a 80million pound player and they rarely live up to their billing. Thats why we have such a big wage bill, investment and little success. Always with the Hollywood targets.

I mean, that's kind of what they did. VDB in particular seemed like a signing made because he was a cheaper yet quality alternative to Grealish.

The problem with these kinds of stories is that they appeal to people who already have their minds made up about how Ole's been boned by Ed and the owners. Of the players mentioned, Haaland and Ake chose other clubs, Grealish and Sancho were both prohibitively expensive and Upamecano extended his contract only 3 months ago...and there's a pandemic going on.

This club isn't in the same situation it was 20-30 years ago when it had the pick of the litter. We have to be better at identifying backup targets and be more flexible in the transfer market, otherwise we'll run into a situation where our RW options suddenly went from Sancho to two teenagers (although I'm really excited about Diallo) who are unlikely to be able to help the squad in the short-term. That responsibility falls on both the manager and Ed's team.

 

[sullydnl]

"The manager picks our targets" only counts for so much if we're consistently signing players who are some way down their list of preferred options.

At a certain point the manager's decision boils down to "accept this lesser option or get nobody". Yet if that lesser option then flops the manager still gets the blame because he "chose" that player, ignoring the fact that he actually wanted the better options the club had initially pursued but then inevitably didn't secure.

If the options are that unrealistic then the club shouldn't be entertaining them in the first place. If you can't afford a player then they shouldn't be one of your targets, at all. Every club in Europe decided Sancho would cost more than they were willing to pay this summer, yet we were the only one who still opted to pursue him as our main target regardless, seemingly in the hope that Dortmund would magically decide to drop his price for no apparent reason.

And those options that are realistic (like Ake, for example) should be pursued quickly as they're the club's only opportunity to get in the manager's first choice picks. People say "City moved quickly for Ake", like there's no way we could have done so too. That's the way we should be moving for key targets.

I'm perfectly fine with us being unwilling to spend that much money. But for the love of god stop targeting players that will inevitably cost that much money then. And once you have your new list of realistic and affordable targets, move quickly to secure the best ones rather than dragging everything out so long that other clubs can steal ahead.

 

[RedDevil@84]

The "bang average" centre back he brought in last season has come in and shown just how bad the other centre half - who was many peoples player of the bloody season in 2018/19 - is

He has shown nothing of that sort. He has been the the same as other defenders. Good sometimes, horrendous sometimes.

 

[Highfather_24]

See we didnt get Grealish(he is not worth 80M anyway), so we got VdB. No one is complaining.

The reason people are complaining is because after failing to get Sancho, we didnt buy an alternative. If we bought Chiesa, most people would have been happy and understanding.

I'm pretty sure this author is making shit up, but I wouldnt be surprised if Ole is very unhappy with the players he got. This is exactly why we need a DOF, and not Woody/Judge in charge of transfers.

 

[Trex]

I think it was reported earlier in the window that united wanted a right sided forward, a attacking midfield player and a centre back,Sancho was suppose to be the marquee signing, grealish the creative midfielder but i don't think Olé had any issue with signing Vdb instead since he costs half as much(we were already linked in Jan so he must have been second choice at least) plus he might actually be the better of the two, I fill center half was less of a priority considering our defensive record in the second half of last season, only an absolute top one would have been considered plus it would have been very costly,plus we couldn't get rid of Jones and Rojo
We ended up signing Vdb,switched our attention to an alternative left back,the big miss was Sancho,I don't think the board wanted to take the financial risk,instead we brought a better cf than ighalo and bought two youngsters for the right wing, not bad considering the pandemic if we're being rational at least they tried to improve the team in this difficult period, it's up to Ole to get the best out of what really isn't a bad group of players to work with, I think expectations is why fans are disappointed

 

[Pogue Mahone]

So if Ole isn’t identifying the second tier signings when his first choice isn’t available, who the feck is?!?

 

[Stacks]

I mean, that's kind of what they did. VDB in particular seemed like a signing made because he was a cheaper yet quality alternative to Grealish.

The problem with these kinds of stories is that they appeal to people who already have their minds made up about how Ole's been boned by Ed and the owners. Of the players mentioned, Haaland and Ake chose other clubs, Grealish and Sancho were both prohibitively expensive and Upamecano extended his contract only 3 months ago...and there's a pandemic going on.

This club isn't in the same situation it was 20-30 years ago when it had the pick of the litter. We have to be better at identifying backup targets and be more flexible in the transfer market, otherwise we'll run into a situation where our RW options suddenly went from Sancho to two teenagers (although I'm really excited about Diallo) who are unlikely to be able to help the squad in the short-term. That responsibility falls on both the manager and Ed's team.

agreed. That said, if just one of the young RW lads hits the ground running, the whole mood will change

 

[-Supreme-]

Because James wasn't bought as a starter - I said that above... he was a £15m punt on potential.

Lindelof is still at the club isn't he? and Smalling was sold for £20m, he's 31 in a few weeks and was surplus to requirements...

James was bought to add quality squad depth in an area where we desperately need, so do you think he will succeed?

When did I say we sold Lindelof?

Smalling was average for us, but Maguire at £80m hasn't performed much better either.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

According to the Athletic, Woodward has wanted to sign Cavani since 2013 so what the manager wants and what the manager gets are two very different things at Manchester United.

 

[Skills]

See we didnt get Grealish(he is not worth 80M anyway), so we got VdB. No one is complaining.

The reason people are complaining is because after failing to get Sancho, we didnt buy an alternative. If we bought Chiesa, most people would have been happy and understanding.

I'm pretty sure this author is making shit up, but I wouldnt be surprised if Ole is very unhappy with the players he got. This is exactly why we need a DOF, and not Woody/Judge in charge of transfers.

Second reason being of course, that if something like this came out with a director of football in charge the manager would've signed off his own P45. There's not a chance any DOF takes such blatant disobedience from any coach working from him.

Woodward and co are way too soft.

 

[Stacks]

"The manager picks our targets" only counts for so much if we're consistently signing players who are some way down their list of preferred options.

At a certain point the manager's decision boils down to "accept this lesser option or get nobody". Yet if that lesser option then flops the manager still gets the blame because he "chose" that player, ignoring the fact that he actually wanted the better options the club had initially pursued but then inevitably didn't secure.

If the options are that unrealistic then the club shouldn't be entertaining them in the first place. If you can't afford a player then they shouldn't be one of your targets, at all. Every club in Europe decided Sancho would cost more than they were willing to pay this summer, yet we were the only one who still opted to pursue him as our main target regardless, seemingly in the hope that Dortmund would magically decide to drop his price for no apparent reason.

And those options that are realistic (like Ake, for example) should be pursued quickly as they're the club's only opportunity to get in the manager's first choice picks. People say "City moved quickly for Ake", like there's no way we could have done so too. That's the way we should be moving for key targets.

I'm perfectly fine with us being unwilling to spend that much money. But for the love of god stop targeting players that will inevitably cost that much money then. And once you have your new list of realistic and affordable targets, move quickly to secure the best ones rather than dragging everything out so long that other clubs can steal ahead.

Ed and our committee are muppets though. We have to make a "statement" every Summer.

 

[Highfather_24]

"The manager picks our targets" only counts for so much if we're consistently signing players who are some way down their list of preferred options.

At a certain point the manager's decision boils down to "accept this lesser option or get nobody". Yet if that lesser option then flops the manager still gets the blame because he "chose" that player, ignoring the fact that he actually wanted the better options the club had initially pursued but then inevitably didn't secure.

If the options are that unrealistic then the club shouldn't be entertaining them in the first place. If you can't afford a player then they shouldn't be one of your targets, at all. Every club in Europe decided Sancho would cost more than they were willing to pay this summer, yet we were the only one who still opted to pursue him as our main target regardless, seemingly in the hope that Dortmund would magically decide to drop his price for no apparent reason.

And those options that are realistic (like Ake, for example) should be pursued quickly as they're the club's only opportunity to get in the manager's first choice picks. People say "City moved quickly for Ake", like there's no way we could have done so too. That's the way we should be moving for key targets.

I'm perfectly fine with us being unwilling to spend that much money. But for the love of god stop targeting players that will inevitably cost that much money then. And once you have your new list of realistic and affordable targets, move quickly to secure the best ones rather than dragging everything out so long that other clubs can steal ahead.

Exactly this. And this is not new either. Remember when we spend the whole summer targeting Kroos and Fabregas, and ended up with Fellaini?

Woodward and co, suck at negotiation and transfers. Its obvious.They get fleeced all the time. That's why a competent DOF is so so important. As long as we dont get one, I have no faith in our recruitment.

I dont mind not spending 100M on a single player. But atleast be competent in the market. We just have to look at Chelsea/Liverpool to see how efficient they are.

 

[PeteManic]

But how many sponsorship deals did we get? That's the important stuff.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Let’s look at their objectively. You have

£80m Grealish
£120m Sancho
£41m Ake
£??m Upamecano (probably £60-70m at a guess).

Is it the clubs fault for not delivering these players? Astonishing amounts of money.

We moved onto other targets, not necessarily quickly enough, but we did and OGS signed off on them all.

Does anyone think the club should be paying those amounts of monies for those players?

 

[youmeletsfly]

Very well said. I'm all for blaming the board and everything but surely people ought to put things into perspective at some point.

Ole's last summer expensive acquisitions have so far been giant waste of money. 130m on Maguire and AWB and the defensive is still awful for some odd reasons. I mean what does Sancho have to do us failing to defense a simple throw in? Imagine starting the game well, being on the scoreboard in the first minute just for your WR signing to feck up some very basic stuff at the back which set you back in the game.

Now we need another top defender when that 80 millions spent on a single defender should have seen much improvement let alone 130 millions on 2 defenders. we don't have an infinite pool of money to just piss away then get back in the market an buy another expensive flop if it doesn't work out.

We don't know if Maguire and AWB were Ole targets but it should not matter if they were or not. Even my grandpa would have seen that AWB is absolutely shit on the ball and that Maguire was not worth 80 mil. Ole should have seen that from a mile away and should have been against both transfers.

But in all seriousness, god knows what happens behind the scenes.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

I will agree with the VDB signing if Ole actually plays him more. Grealish is playing for his side and contributing so well. Ole is not doing Donny any favours by just sitting him on the bench. The next game will be interesting if he starts with Donny and Telles or still sticks with the ones who are letting him down. If he does, what was the point of making any signings?

It’s been three league games, for a player without a pre season with the club. He’s being eased in.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Ole has got his top targets last year with Maguire and AWB.

First choice doesn't necessarily mean guarantee success.

True. You don't always get your first choice anyway.

But I do feel Sancho was the one we should have managed but what can you do when the Glazers don't want to spend big. The rest, it's fine. Often clubs get 2nd/3rd choice targets and it's usually about how well thought out all your targets rather than just aiming for a few great players and having no other quality alternatives.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

It’s been three league games, for a player without a pre season with the club. He’s being eased in.

Sorry but nobody had a pre-season with this club. So it will be Christmas before we see Tellas as he didn't have a pre-season with us.

 

[Highfather_24]

Second reason being of course, that if something like this came out with a director of football in charge the manager would've signed off his own P45. There's not a chance any DOF takes such blatant disobedience from any coach working from him.

Woodward and co are way too soft.

True. Although I have trouble believing this article, seems like the author just made it up for clicks.

If we had a competent DOF, and Ole was like "I want Sancho and Grealish", he would have been immediately told "Bro you are getting VdB and Chiesa, we dont have funds lel. But we can get it done before the season begins".

And we would have actually moved and got the players, rather than dilly dallying till the deadline day like always. If the manager makes silly demands, you need a DOF to set the record straight right from the off, and get him his players asap. What is happening now is Woody and co(because they are idiots) chase these stupid transfers and waste time, and then make panic buys.

feck man, I'm so sick of the Utd recruitment. I dont care who is to blame, but its rotten to the core. We need to let go of this antiquated Manager-CEO model, and get a DOF asap.

 

[georgipep]

What you think AWB and Maguire were Woodward players and weren't requested by Ole? Those 2 are Ole's players when he was trying to attempt to build his British core which spectacularly backfired so far. 130 millions could have gotten us 2 genuine top defenders but instead we got an overpriced CB and a RB who hasn't got much footballing abilities nor defensive positional senses.

I don't divide players into Woodward and Ole categories. I divide them in 'United have officially made an effort or have acquired the player' and 'media BS'.
The club has given zero indication that they were ever after Grealish or Upamecano. For Sancho we have somewhat of a confirmation from Dortmund.

 

[ROFLUTION]

Oles first choices would have been something like..

Sancho
Grealish
Reguilon
Upamecano

And we all know what we got.

Dont mention all these. Makes me think of a title challenge if we had had them.

Fecking Glazers! Feck your stupid dividends

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Is it the clubs fault for not delivering these players?

Since we didn't get any of them, yes. Stop deflecting the blame.

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

So it seems Ole is briefing and Ed is briefing. We all know how this ends.

 

[rotherham_red]

All this makes it obvious that the club are not behind Ole. They should either back him or sack him.

Unfortunately, I think the truth is worse. If they weren't behind him, that would denote at least some semblance of coherent thinking to a degree that they haven't shown in their tenure thus far.

No, what it is, is they're just fecking incompetent.

 

[JB7]

He has shown nothing of that sort. He has been the the same as other defenders. Good sometimes, horrendous sometimes.

Nonsense, he is levels above the other centre halves. Lindelöf does ok most of the time but we all know he isn't the long-term partner for Maguire. Bailly is never going to be good enough & Tuanzebe looks the most interesting long term partner but he seems to have major issues getting himself fit.

The biggest issue I have with Maguire is him getting dragged over to cover Shaw's out of position arse all the time. I'm hoping we'll see him able to relax & focus on his own job with Telles dropping into the defence instead of Shaw.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Sorry but nobody had a pre-season with this club. So it will be Christmas before we see Tellas as he didn't have a pre-season with us.

Players who have been with the club before the summer and clearly different to those who are arriving now.

It’s been, 3, shall I repeat 3 games. The lad is being eased in. No issue with that is there? He’s actually come on in at least 2 of those games and started in the league cup. Some people need to calm down.

 

[-Supreme-]

True. You don't always get your first choice anyway.

But I do feel Sancho was the one we should have managed but what can you do when the Glazers don't want to spend big. The rest, it's fine. Often clubs get 2nd/3rd choice targets and it's usually about how well thought out all your targets rather than just aiming for a few great players and having no other quality alternatives.

I know a lot would strongly disagree but personally it was a correct decision not spending 120m on Sancho when you consider the young talented players we have signed on the deadline day.

Yes we still have gaps in our team, particularly DM and CB , let's hope we can prioritise these areas in Jan / summer.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Since we didn't get any of them, yes. Stop deflecting the blame.

At the start of the summer, you don’t know what the cost of these players are. Should we have paid £80m for Grealish, £41m for Ake?

It’s not deflecting the blame at all. There’s not a single manager who would expect a club to go any buy all those targets, as others have pointed out at a cost close to £300m!

 

[Ikon]

The sad thing about this one is I'm pretty sure it's common knowledge by this point that SAF gift-wrapped the Thiago transfer for Moyes and all he had to do was green light it when he arrived. If he had kept the backroom staff and signed that lad, he might have seen out a year.

Also heard today that Moyes rejected Cavani, after going to watch him a few times, deciding that he wasn't clinical in front of goal.....?!?!
If that rumour turns out to be true.....

 

[Skills]

True. Although I have trouble believing this article, seems like the author just made it up for clicks.

If we had a competent DOF, and Ole was like "I want Sancho and Grealish", he would have been immediately told "Bro you are getting VdB and Chiesa, we dont have funds lel. But we can get it done before the season begins".

And we would have actually moved and got the players, rather than dilly dallying till the deadline day like always. If the manager makes silly demands, you need a DOF to set the record straight right from the off, and get him his players asap. What is happening now is Woody and co(because they are idiots) chase these stupid transfers and waste time, and then make panic buys.

feck man, I'm so sick of the Utd recruitment. I dont care who is to blame, but its rotten to the core. We need to let go of this antiquated Manager-CEO model, and get a DOF asap.

If we had a competent DOF, I don't think the managers even in any position to say he wants so and so. What he wants is completely irrelevant outside of potentially suggesting the club could do with strengthening this or that position this summer. How the club does it is a bit irrelevant. Only once you gain Pep or Klopp's stature or influence, does their opinion start to count for anymore than that.

In clubs with DOFs, the head coaches are given players. They just have to make do with it, because the head coach isn't privy to the clubs long term strategy - his job is just to get the very best out of what the club has at that time. For all they know, they've already sounded out a new coach to take over next summer and a lot of the players the club is signing are a better fit for the next coach than himself. That's the kind of ruthlessness and efficiency that we lack as a club.

 

[Judas]

Also heard today that Moyes rejected Cavani, after going to watch him a few times, deciding that he wasn't clinical in front of goal.....?!?!
If turns out to be true.....

To be fair Cavani is a lot of things, but clinical in front of goal he is not. He is ridiculously wasteful.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Also heard today that Moyes rejected Cavani, after going to watch him a few times, deciding that he wasn't clinical in front of goal.....?!?!
If turns out to be true.....

David “I win” Moyes - the gift that keeps giving (to our rivals).

So this would have been the year he moved to PSG, and went on to become their record goal scorer (granted they don’t have a long history), with 200 goals!

 

[Stacks]

At the start of the summer, you don’t know what the cost of these players are. Should we have paid £80m for Grealish, £41m for Ake?

It’s not deflecting the blame at all. There’s not a single manager who would expect a club to go any buy all those targets, as others have pointed out at a cost close to £300m!

No point. Its FIFA Ultimate Team out here. Woodward and Co are an 11-year old's mum's credit/debit card.

 

[Ronaldo's ego]

Supporters need to stop feeding and promoting this media crap. We knows whats wrong at the club and all this negativity online and around social media does nothing but put more pressure on Ole and the players.