Five years to return back to the top: what would be your priorities?

[fastwalker]

Conventional wisdom seems to be that, even if it all goes well, it could take up to three to five before United return to the top (ie: win the Premier League and become sustainably successful again). If it does not go so well, then choose your number! Between now and then, we have the 'rebuild'. Unlike the failed rebuilds before it, this one is likely to require smashing, bulldozing and detonating on an industrial scale. Players will be moving in and out, the new manager will be impressing his footballing philosophy on the team and behind the scenes, the culture of the club will slowly but surely be transformed.

Along the way as evidence that the new managers methods are having the desired effect we should see three things: firstly, improved performances on the pitch, with fitness levels and work rate amongst the top percentile in the Premier League. Second, we should see improved results ensuring that over time we move from being competitors to contenders. Third, we should at least be winning a lower level trophy either domestically or in Europe as this will help to build a winning mentality.

My question is this, if for the sake of argument we say that it will take United another five years to lift the Premier League trophy again and mindful that you cannot change everything all at once, what would be your priorities for each of those five years?

 

[Tavern in the town]

It shouldn’t take 5 years. It took Liverpool 4 years and they don’t have as much money as we do. It’s quite straightforward, all it comes down to is hiring a good manager and buying good players. You’d have thought we’d have accidentally done it at some point in the last decade.

 

[Skills]

I feel like a lot of you just have landed on the wrong club to support. Pick a league 1 team, follow their 5 year journey to the top. You'll get a lot more satisfaction from it.

 

[Orange Tree]

Stop rewarding undeperforming players with more money would be my first priority.

We have issues offloading players because they are all on huge wages.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

1. Changing the structure of our club - Owners I'm personally ok with, but the footballing people need to be exactly that, not business people. They need to know what they are doing, so they can make the right decisions when it matters

2. Change our wage bill. Too many players getting overpaid, and frankly, some aren't good enough.

3. Bringing an identity back to our club - This doesn't need to be the identity we had under Sir Alex - that's gone now. Preferably, a high pressing, modern day approach that most of the top clubs do.

4. Bring in young players/focus on academy

5. Start challenging for title/winning domestic cups.

 

[RedPed]

Change the heading to 2 years. No way on earth should it be 5 years. That's more of a West Ham level business plan.

 

[EverReddy]

move towards a player payment system that includes a healthy/heavy element of performance-related pay. Lingard, Jones, Bailly Mata and co have been laughing for years.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Change the heading to 2 years. No way on earth should it be 5 years. That's more of a West Ham level business plan.

Couple of years ago West Ham were fighting relegation. Don't think I need to explain where they're at now.

 

[Jeppers7]

For me start with the fitness of the squad and put in the foundations of the system we will use. Patience would come next then replacing and upgrading players.

 

[Pretzels81]

I'll be blunt and honest: nobody, other than City and Liverpool, will win a PL title as long as Pep and Klopp remain in England.

But with Ten Hag on board, I expect/demand good signings, fluid attacking football, solid UCL runs (QFs/semis), Top2-3 guaranteed and minor titles like the FA Cup. Enough of the Top5-7 nonsense.

 

[Red the Bear]

5 years is too much , liverpool were in dire straits when klopp got there in 2015 and they were in an ucl final 3 years later , won it 4 years later and almost won the title as well. Taking too long to rebuild will be counter productive.

 

[P-Nut]

Biggest thing for me is the clear out and that should be done this summer.

I'm willing to take massively lower expectations for next season if it means our squad is in a position to be added to next summer, without needing a huge clear out.

I'd like us to put a huge emphasis on the youth players next season and give them ample time to stake a claim to be a part of the squad the following year. Garner, Megbri and Laird are probably the closest to having a shot, along with maybe Amad given how he fits the style of Ten Hag.

With the news that Matic, Cavani and Mata are leaving that is a good start with the senior players towards the end of their careers who won't be around in 2 or 3 years when we should be looking to peak again. I wouldn't be against Ronaldo leaving, although I know it leaves us massively short up top, he simply won't be around when we are competing again so may as well get someone in that can grow with the team.

A back up 11 for next season with the following players included would be fine by me.

Henderson
Laird New Young CB Lindelof Fernández
Garner McTominay
Amad Megbri Rashford
New CF

1st 11 will still have lots of experience and new signings mainly in central midfield and attack, but it gives plenty of opportunity to younger players and let's us know whether they are going to make the grade or not.

I'd accept anywhere from 7/8th upwards if we went with the above.

 

[cyril C]

I thought Mourinho's 2 years drive was the best. Europa 1st year, 2nd 2nd year, then....

I wasn't expecting winning EPL on the 3rd year, but at least a neck-2-neck with the winner right until May, like City V Liverpool this season.

 

[Sky1981]

Academy player wont win us nothing.

There's a reason why teams arent filling half their squad with academy players. The success rate are very slim to even produce a pl level athlete let alone top 3 contender.

You'd get 2 or 3 pl level academy player every decades and that's considered lucky

Our last trully proven academy graduate is Darren Fletcher.

McT is academy graduate but does he merits the first team spot?

 

[devilish]

But But Murtough-Ole rebuilt has already been made. We've got a group of players (including a British core) with the right United DNA who understand what playing for this club is all about. Ole himself said that we are so so close.

 

[devilish]

In my opinion we shouldn't obsess about winning. Juventus did that with the CL and they ended up burning craters in their financial sheets as they brought 'easy way outs' like Higuian and Ronaldo to their team. United need to acknowledge that there are 4-5 EPL well run clubs who will be competing for the title. In the end only 1 can make it.

What United should obsess about is on becoming the best run club in the world. Everything from the the board to the first team right to the scouting department, recruitment and the youth academy should thrive to be better. If someone does it better then our people then these people need to either adapt quickly or be shown the door. I also believe that we need experience across the board. The time of on the job learning is over and they basically threw nearly half a billion pounds in the bin. We need sporting directors, DOFs, head of recruitments, managers and coaches who know what winning is all about in the very job they are employed in.

In terms of first team first order of business should be to lower the ridiculous salary bill we're paying. Out of the 10 most paid players at the club 7 are clearly undeserving (Sancho, Varane, Pogba, Maguire, Cavani, Rashford, Mata) while 2 out of the rest are players in decline (Ronaldo, DDG). This puts the club in a rough spot in terms of signing new talent as players would want the same salaries. Then we need to get players who are hungry for success. I'd say anything above the 25 years of age shouldn't be looked at.

 

[devilish]

Academy player wont win us nothing.

There's a reason why teams arent filling half their squad with academy players. The success rate are very slim to even produce a pl level athlete let alone top 3 contender.

You'd get 2 or 3 pl level academy player every decades and that's considered lucky

Our last trully proven academy graduate is Darren Fletcher.

McT is academy graduate but does he merits the first team spot?

We keep speaking about the academy yet both teams (U23 and U18) linger at 4th place and so far away from City. Maybe our academy isn't as good as we think it is

 

[P-Nut]

Academy player wont win us nothing.

There's a reason why teams arent filling half their squad with academy players. The success rate are very slim to even produce a pl level athlete let alone top 3 contender.

You'd get 2 or 3 pl level academy player every decades and that's considered lucky

Our last trully proven academy graduate is Darren Fletcher.

McT is academy graduate but does he merits the first team spot?

Which is why I'd use next season to see which of them can step up and sell the ones that can't after it. We're never going to know if we don't try them and I'd rather do that in a season where the pressure is off and we fully invest in a rebuild

 

[fergiewherearethou]

I'll be blunt and honest: nobody, other than City and Liverpool, will win a PL title as long as Pep and Klopp remain in England.

But with Ten Hag on board, I expect/demand good signings, fluid attacking football, solid UCL runs (QFs/semis), Top2-3 guaranteed and minor titles like the FA Cup. Enough of the Top5-7 nonsense.

I tend to agree, very difficult to believe we can have a season as good as finishing above both Pool and City, one of them may have an off season here and there, like Liverpool had last year, but to finish above both I find unrealistic.
We certainly need a system and football philosophy put in place by ETH and the players capable of playing that system.
We need to stop overpaying flops
We need to be ruthless with underperforming players
We need to stop buying players that do not fit the system

 

[Sky1981]

Which is why I'd use next season to see which of them can step up and sell the ones that can't after it. We're never going to know if we don't try them and I'd rather do that in a season where the pressure is off and we fully invest in a rebuild

Unless our next manager is blind they dont need to field academy player to know which one is ready. We have u21 matches for that. Those that gets game time arent ready mentally but physically and technically can be monitored.

Which is why you dont see teams fielding youngster who wont make like like us. They know what card they're dealt with.

Giving laird and for example brandon williams 20 games arent going to make them better than what they already were.

Rooney was given games not because we want to see if he's ready, but because he was ready

 

[Sky1981]

We keep speaking about the academy yet both teams (U23 and U18) linger at 4th place and so far away from City. Maybe our academy isn't as good as we think it is

Maybe. I have no doubt our academy graduate can make a decent living in championship. But we need more than decent, we need a player who's capable to at least be backup player for a team pushing top 4.

And it's no bad academy or good academy, even ajax dont produce good enough numbers year in year out at that level.

So imho expecting academy graduates to get game time regardless just for the sake of it is not the way we should aim for

Sure, for prestige we could have played some for the sake of it but it feels redundant if they only made it because they're academy player instead actually good enough to earn the spot

 

[Jaae]

We need to put ourselves in the position of being ready to take over as the top dog when Klopp and Guardiola leave, which could conceivably be in the next 3 years. I don’t see any manager coming in and beating both to the league title.

An ideal scenario for me would be year on year progress in all areas, Pep leaving City next season, and Klopp fecking up the upcoming squad rebuild at Liverpool and eventually leaving on a low note.

 

[Ranchero]

Priorities? The issues at the club are systemic.
Have club sold to owners who care. And get in staff who have top class experience in their field. After Ole, we are now about to appoint another man with zero experience in a top flight league from a club that produced De Boer (Palace).

 

[croadyman]

Stop rewarding undeperforming players with more money would be my first priority.

We have issues offloading players because they are all on huge wages.

Yeah a thorough investigation into the wage structure is absolutely paramount. We are constantly getting lumbered with average players on sky high wages.

 

[croadyman]

But But Murtough-Ole rebuilt has already been made. We've got a group of players (including a British core) with the right United DNA who understand what playing for this club is all about. Ole himself said that we are so so close.

He was utterly deluded believing that garbage

 

[SirReginald]

We keep speaking about the academy yet both teams (U23 and U18) linger at 4th place and so far away from City. Maybe our academy isn't as good as we think it is

City’s youth recruitment offers extensive lucrative packages to both the player and parents, which I know SAF frowned upon. Not only that but City are doing a lot of foreign purchases to boost the strength of their academy. On top of having worse facilities than your neighbours.

Honestly despite a lot of talk I don’t believe you are as youth friendly as you used to be. In recent times Chelsea have surpassed you for output of talenT.

 

[devilish]

Maybe. I have no doubt our academy graduate can make a decent living in championship. But we need more than decent, we need a player who's capable to at least be backup player for a team pushing top 4.

And it's no bad academy or good academy, even ajax dont produce good enough numbers year in year out at that level.

So imho expecting academy graduates to get game time regardless just for the sake of it is not the way we should aim for

Sure, for prestige we could have played some for the sake of it but it feels redundant if they only made it because they're academy player instead actually good enough to earn the spot

Youths are a bit unpredictable. Top players had been told they won't make it by their own football academy including David Platt. Meanwhile talent like Ravel Morrison and Keith Gillespie were hailed as the next big thing and well, they weren't. In reality its a mix of luck, talent and the player's character to make it happen.

Honestly I'd rather see us rely more on kids as squad players then players who clearly do not have the talent/will to be here

 

[Hashirama]

Youth. Courage. Success.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

City’s youth recruitment offers extensive lucrative packages to both the player and parents, which I know SAF frowned upon. Not only that but City are doing a lot of foreign purchases to boost the strength of their academy. On top of having worse facilities than your neighbours.

Honestly despite a lot of talk I don’t believe you are as youth friendly as you used to be. In recent times Chelsea have surpassed you for output of talenT.

Our youth recruitment in recent years has been very good. We've managed to take players away from City like Charlie McNeil and we beat many top clubs around Europe to Hannibal. Signed highly rated Alvaro Fernandez from Real Madrid and we beat them to the signing of Garnacho from Atletico Madrid. These are moves United weren't making 5-10 years ago. The academy revamp is probably the biggest positive from the Woodward era.

 

[rimaldo]

i think it will only take three years.

1st year: redesign shorts so they are similar to the 80s. with less material in their kits, there will be less places for the players to hide shite performances about their persons. more exposed flesh will also allow us to force players to get tattoos of sponsors on their thighs, driving up revenue to fund signings.

2nd year: signings. no one watches football for football any more. we’re only interested in the social media accounts of the players or their definitely not tacky clothing brands. with that in mind, players will be forced to attend a lot of book signings and corporate events. ensuring we are flooded with sponsored social media posts that treat us as consumers rather than fans. just like the pieces of shit we are.

3rd year: trophies. with the trophy cabinet now barren for a decade, fair weather supporters will begin to desert us in favour of more successful teams or those with argentinian managers who equally haven’t won anything but are argentinian. this will ensure google cares less about swearing and that and then redcafe will be returned to its former glory.

 

[Bestietom]

Rebuild should only take about 2 years and then we should be challenging for honours.
It's most of the players that needs to buck up. Get rid of the bad eggs and then build a team.
Don't allow players rule, and manager to show his authority.

 

[bond19821982]

ETH won't be here in 5 years. If takes him and the management 10 windows to take us back to top, then he better not come. I will write off next season's points if that means we are improving but we should see his stamp in the second half of the season . Second season is where I'm going to judge him. If he still doesn't get what we wants, I would be willing to change the manager in 3rd year.

 

[SirReginald]

Our youth recruitment in recent years has been very good. We've managed to take players away from City like Charlie McNeil and we beat many top clubs around Europe to Hannibal. Signed highly rated Alvaro Fernandez from Real Madrid and we beat them to the signing of Garnacho from Atletico Madrid. These are moves United weren't making 5-10 years ago. The academy revamp is probably the biggest positive from the Woodward era.

Your signing good young players but your not developing your own. It’s a start, sure, but if the development isn’t there then the promising players coming in could also stagnate.

I keep seeing people say Garner should get a chance but there’s really nothing to suggest he will be anything than a player of Cleverlys ability. McT has also not really improved much despite the numerous minutes. Williams is another that really hasn’t gone to the next level.

 

[glazed]

It shouldn’t take 5 years. It took Liverpool 4 years and they don’t have as much money as we do. It’s quite straightforward, all it comes down to is hiring a good manager and buying good players. You’d have thought we’d have accidentally done it at some point in the last decade.

The first thing we have to do is stop thinking this.

Next we need to commit to a playing style and replicate it at every level of the club - transfers, youth team, coaching knowledge, training facilities - everything. It has to become the controlling thought of absolutely everything we do. And then hope to fek it was the right one. And not give up on it just because we win nothing for three years.

Then we make sure no player or coach or executive comes or stays who is not wholly committed to this.

Lastly we can't let the Glazers commercial calculation distort our transfers.

Even if we do all this we will still have to contend with City and Liverpool who have already done this so we cannot expect to return to dominance. But we might start looking like we can compete.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Fast forward to Christmas 23 and ten Haag is 7th having spent 350m, a thread is posted about how to will take 5 years to clear out the players he has signed..

 

[Jezpeza]

We Just need a manager with a style of play to come in and sign the players for his system. This cant be done in one window but at the same time it should look pretty obvious what we are trying to do on the pitch and which players need replacing. Youth team needs to play in this style too. Squad needs to be fitter.

at the same time the fanbase and media aren't going to Give us 3 seasons of no Trophies. If we sign 2/3 players for the starting 11 a season then we arent going to see the full picture.

i’m skeptical whether ETH as it looks like will get the time to turn it round. I genuinely think the starting point is a top first 11 and if it takes us trimming the squad down to a point where the second 11 is literally Laird Mengi Bernard and Williams at the back so be it. No point hanging onto crap senior players like Bailly, jones and tuanzabe for the sake of ‘having a squad’ when they arent going to play and when they do are knocked out of the cup by west ham reserves or middlesborough

 

[Sandikan]

move towards a player payment system that includes a healthy/heavy element of performance-related pay. Lingard, Jones, Bailly Mata and co have been laughing for years.

I'd totally forgotten Bailly is still hanging about!

 

[Sandikan]

Fast forward to Christmas 23 and ten Haag is 7th having spent 350m, a thread is posted about how to will take 5 years to clear out the players he has signed..

I'm hoping it's the opposite summer to usual.
Instead of huge joy at the names we've signed and unrealistic expectations, we instead sign players either no-one has heard of, or sound really underwhelming...but they fit our new system perfectly.

 

[Jezpeza]

I'm hoping it's the opposite summer to usual.
Instead of huge joy at the names we've signed and unrealistic expectations, we instead sign players either no-one has heard of, or sound really underwhelming...but they fit our new system perfectly.

yeah. Or doesnt even need to be that extreme. Sign someone like tchoumeni for £40m, not rice for 120

 

[Sandikan]

yeah. Or doesnt even need to be that extreme. Sign someone like tchoumeni for £40m, not rice for 120

2 or 3 smart signings, and a manager who actually gets the most of out players for probably the first time in best part of a decade, and in itself that could see hige improvements.