The comment that came from the club explaining why we didn't sign Bruno Fernandes has me concerned...
Here's is a lively and creative MF that scores a ridiculous amount of goals, yet we are not interested because "He takes too many risks"....WTF..!!
How are we SO bad?
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Here's is a lively and creative MF that scores a ridiculous amount of goals, yet we are not interested because "He takes too many risks"....WTF..!!
And apparently that’s all going to be resolved by giving the people responsible more time.
We’ll never be any good until we get a manager and coaching staff that have a system and way of playing that is for for this era of football.
Three guys well past their best and a never was was never going to be the answer. And that doesn’t even take into account the lot behind the scenes.
Where exactly are people expecting the entertainment to come from in this side? The squad is nowhere near good enough.
- We have a number 10 (Mata) who plays with his back to goal for 90 minutes playing safe passes back to the centre backs.
- We have no one that can dribble other than Martial (always injured).
- Centre midfielders who struggle to make forward passes other than Pogba (always injured).
- We have no number 9 that can hold the ball up or win anything in the air.
- We play average none goalscoring midfielders in the number 10/RW positions like Pereira and Lingard.
- Our 'star' player is a goalkeeper. Looks good on paper but brings nothing to how we actually play.
No amount of 'coaching' changes the above issues with the players we have.
Any entertainment at the moment is basically on the shoulders of a low goalscoring winger just out of the championship (James) and an over hyped youngster (Rashford), both play their best football in the same position (left wing).
- We have a number 10 (Mata) who plays with his back to goal for 90 minutes playing safe passes back to the centre backs.
- We have no one that can dribble other than Martial (always injured).
- Centre midfielders who struggle to make forward passes other than Pogba (always injured).
- We have no number 9 that can hold the ball up or win anything in the air.
- We play average none goalscoring midfielders in the number 10/RW positions like Pereira and Lingard.
- Our 'star' player is a goalkeeper. Looks good on paper but brings nothing to how we actually play.
No amount of 'coaching' changes the above issues with the players we have.
Any entertainment at the moment is basically on the shoulders of a low goalscoring winger just out of the championship (James) and an over hyped youngster (Rashford), both play their best football in the same position (left wing).
So bad? I challenge you to actively follow Feyenoord for a month and come back to me. You lot don't know bad
Though United aren't amazing either at the moment I admit.
Though United aren't amazing either at the moment I admit.
Was that really the reason he wasn't signed? I wasn't paying attention in the summer.
Average players and a novice manager with limited ability. In the short term, this will ensure tumescent, boring and largely ineffective football that will leave the side languishing somewhere in mid-table.
The wider problem is the lack of competence at Board level, which has lead to years of mismanagement at the club. Long term, this more-or-less guarantees that we'll continue to appoint the wrong coaches, sign the wrong players and generally become a laughing stock (even more than we are already).
The wider problem is the lack of competence at Board level, which has lead to years of mismanagement at the club. Long term, this more-or-less guarantees that we'll continue to appoint the wrong coaches, sign the wrong players and generally become a laughing stock (even more than we are already).
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Good post. In addition, aside from this summer, the signings we have been making for the last few seasons really haven't been good enough on the whole. I laugh when I hear journo's consistently mentioning how much money we have spent. Yes we have spent that money, but look how many players we bought are still at club...the player turnover really is incredible and it is something that has to drastically improve.
Pah! This is serious, Kirky! My 'friends' on Myspace & Bebo mock me with MSN-era smilies!So bad? I challenge you to actively follow Feyenoord for a month and come back to me. You lot don't know bad
Though United aren't amazing either at the moment I admit.
We have the worst manager in the league??
There's no excuse for our performances really. Like the OP says, the squad is talented.. It might not be 11 world beaters, but I'd go as far as to say 7 of our best starting 11 are excellent. Does anyone really think that DDG, AWB, Maguire, Lindelof (slight question marks), Shaw, Pogba, Martial and Rashford are simply not good enough players?? Then we have James - a young talent we all like. Greenwood, who's very capable. Dalot, Young, Mata, McTominay... Experience and youth.
Yes, we're lacking in midfield. So what. I continue to think we're not some unique club. We're well funded and have some of the best facilities on the planet. Train good players well and we'll play well. It's not rocket science. Pogba isn't walking out onto the pitch thinking "is Ed really the man to run the club...". He's kicking a ball for a feck-ton of money.
It's all coaching. Jose exaggerates how poor we were to protect his image. Moyes was sabotaged by Rio and co (but shouldn't have been offered the job in the first place), LvG was a good idea which didn't work out. Jose did pretty well but played Jose football and didn't sign the right sort of player to implement his force-of-will style football. Sure, they're all different styles of coach, but as we've seen countless times at other clubs - a new coach can transform a team overnight. They're just footballers.
Get rid of Ole - he's utterly clueless. He's the problem for me. Is the squad good enough to win the league? No. Is it good enough to dominate in Belgrade? It bloody well is.
Yes, we're lacking in midfield. So what. I continue to think we're not some unique club. We're well funded and have some of the best facilities on the planet. Train good players well and we'll play well. It's not rocket science. Pogba isn't walking out onto the pitch thinking "is Ed really the man to run the club...". He's kicking a ball for a feck-ton of money.
It's all coaching. Jose exaggerates how poor we were to protect his image. Moyes was sabotaged by Rio and co (but shouldn't have been offered the job in the first place), LvG was a good idea which didn't work out. Jose did pretty well but played Jose football and didn't sign the right sort of player to implement his force-of-will style football. Sure, they're all different styles of coach, but as we've seen countless times at other clubs - a new coach can transform a team overnight. They're just footballers.
Get rid of Ole - he's utterly clueless. He's the problem for me. Is the squad good enough to win the league? No. Is it good enough to dominate in Belgrade? It bloody well is.
Hey, you've scored 10 goals in your last 5 games! We've scored 3. I was going to say how many games it took to get us to 10, but it takes every game this season! 13 in total, and if you take out that fluke 4-0 over Chelsea, we only have 9! So, you've scored more goals than us in your last 5 games than we have in every game outside of our 1st one of the season...So bad? I challenge you to actively follow Feyenoord for a month and come back to me. You lot don't know bad
Though United aren't amazing either at the moment I admit.
Funny thing is I watched Celtic last night, they played open expansive football and beat Lazio 2-1. Sure it was lacking in some quality but was entertaining and the fans were happy.
Now, if Celtic can be so entertaining on a shoestring budget, it asks the question why can’t United do the same with a far vaster one.
Now, if Celtic can be so entertaining on a shoestring budget, it asks the question why can’t United do the same with a far vaster one.
With each passing week, I care less and less. I should be paid to watch the crap on offer. It's not football.
£900m (or whatever) since SAF left and attacking wise what we have to show for that turnover is Mata, James and Martial. It's no surprise this squad doesn't entertain.
Our players looks frightened and stressed, overwhelmed with their job. You see League 2 teams play with more freedom and expression.
A combination of overrated players that have been kept on too long as they're "nice guys", and a lack of confidence that comes from not winning regularly.
Rojo, Young, Matic, Fred, Mata, Lingard, Pereira should be nowhere near this squad.
You could add poor coaching too, but it seems whoever we sign as a coach can't turn shit into gold. I doubt even Guardiola or Klopp would have much more success.
We have players that are far too 1 dimensional, there good at certain things but poor in many other departments.
Ole is right in a sense that the squad needs completing gutting and starting again before we can move forward unfortunately.
Rojo, Young, Matic, Fred, Mata, Lingard, Pereira should be nowhere near this squad.
You could add poor coaching too, but it seems whoever we sign as a coach can't turn shit into gold. I doubt even Guardiola or Klopp would have much more success.
We have players that are far too 1 dimensional, there good at certain things but poor in many other departments.
Ole is right in a sense that the squad needs completing gutting and starting again before we can move forward unfortunately.
It's the coaching, you can blame the players and say they're rubbish, but that's the whole point of coaching. Good coaching will make average players look better than what they are. We seem to be the complete opposite right now.
Nail on head. Far too much wasted money and it is criminal what we have to show for it.
Agreed here too. The players don't have any 'X Factor' at all.
The coaching needs to be better for sure as we are showing nothing at the moment. But 3/4's of this squad really are not good enough and it's painfully obvious, I don't think a better manager would get much out of them either.
Most teams in the league could reel off a list of 5-6 players and wonder why they aren't doing better.
We have I would say about the 6th or 7th best XI in the league, and we have had injuries to key players, so it is really no surprise we are struggling.
Obviously we probably should not have the 6th or 7th best XI in the league, but that is the product of years of mismanagement, not a problem with 'coaching', as if anyone on here has a clue whether we have a problem there or not.
We have I would say about the 6th or 7th best XI in the league, and we have had injuries to key players, so it is really no surprise we are struggling.
Obviously we probably should not have the 6th or 7th best XI in the league, but that is the product of years of mismanagement, not a problem with 'coaching', as if anyone on here has a clue whether we have a problem there or not.
Who's responsibility is this?
Some of the players we have are shocking but using them as an excuse to explain away our poor play and absolve the managers is wrong imo. Who is picking them to play? I know people will say who else should they choose but if the manager felt that his roster wasn't good enough we would be seeing that in youth centric selections but everytime Ole or Jose have had the likes Lingard, Mata, Rojo etc fit to play they have played.
I don't see the point of continually playing these players when you know exactly what you are going to get. Our youth players may eventually prove to be not good enough for the PL but, at this stage, it's better to supplement the squad with them than with players we are certain aren't good enough for how we should play.
Time will tell on that one
Basically this. It all stems from the top though. We've seen the errors the hierarchy have made and it then trickles its way down.
And if they're not good enough, why aren't they being replaced? I then read that the Glazer's have spent lots of money but it's not their fault that the wrong players were bought, so now they want to change the approach. If they can't judge a good player, bring in someone who can.
You're right. But the only players in the squad I honestly think are good enough at this point are DDG, AWB, Maguire, Tuanzebe, Pogba, McTominay, James, Rashford, Martial. The rest could be upgraded as I think they are either finished at this point or will not get better regardless of coaching. In addition, most of those names haven't been able to play in the same team this season due to injuries. Can only hope in the near future we will be able to get all of them on the field at the same time.
How about try playing on the front foot for a change and push our midfield further up to eradicate this disconnect we have to our forwards and impose ourselves on the opposition and let our improved defence defend instead of dropping back and relying on the quickest player to bring the ball out, can’t be any worse than the shit we are having to endure at the moment which is winning us nothing and creating next to feck all.
This, Rojo has been here for five years and bar a spell with Bailly under Jose he has looked atrocious but he had his deal extended.
Wanted to write something similar, but you said it already. The way some still go out of their way to blame the manager in some form is hilarious. That i read someone say that Ole may have something to do with it is bonkers. The question is not if, but how much is Ole to blame here and i have to say to a large degree.
Video gets interesting after about 3/4 mins when it analyses how the midfield passes the ball, particularly vs Newcastle
But but Ole was supposedly the man who took them off the leash and gave them freedom after what the bad Jose did.
somehow Ole and the Board decided going into a campaign with only young inconsistent attackers like Rashford and Martial, and a midfield with only one creative outlet was a reasonable decision. no wonder we suck, the writing was on the wall. the squad is not a top 4 squad. Ole's poor management is compounding the problems though.
We need better attackers. If the plan was 4-2-3-1 in the summer, which it was, then a #10 and right winger should have been signed.
Solskjaer knew we needed a #10 but Woodward and Judge cocked it up. I have no idea why we didn't buy a right winger but it's inexcusable.
Solskjaer knew we needed a #10 but Woodward and Judge cocked it up. I have no idea why we didn't buy a right winger but it's inexcusable.
We need players that can make us play out of defence and into the final third without playing it long (since our coaches/manager are unable/unwilling to do this against). No point in having better attackers when we are unable to feed them the ball in good positions. Getting players that can pass and play out of defence and transition the ball into the final third and make us force clearly less able teams like Rochdale, Astana and Partizan to sit deep. We need to be able to dominate possession against weaker teams if we are to make any sort of progress. Continuing with this counterattacking football will get us nowhere in the long run.
It's a mix of factors really.
Poor squad depth.
Lack of experience at top level management/coaching for Ole.
Players still at the club that wouldn't get into another top 8 premier league XI and on crazy wages
Board/Woodie stuttering at deals and paying over the top wages - blinded by the clubs balance sheet rather than on the pitch.
Lack of a clear direction from above for YEARS (DoF especially for an inexperienced manager like Ole)
The squad is at best 5th or 6th place in the league. Ole is underachieving but we are still miles off from competing for anything. That is why a change of manager will change little, we may shoot back up the table but not to top 4.
There is no clear and obvious way for a quick fix. But the one that has connections to all factors here is the board. They need to man up and protect their investment on the pitch, or probably the latter here - sell the club and feck off with their profits.
Poor squad depth.
Lack of experience at top level management/coaching for Ole.
Players still at the club that wouldn't get into another top 8 premier league XI and on crazy wages
Board/Woodie stuttering at deals and paying over the top wages - blinded by the clubs balance sheet rather than on the pitch.
Lack of a clear direction from above for YEARS (DoF especially for an inexperienced manager like Ole)
The squad is at best 5th or 6th place in the league. Ole is underachieving but we are still miles off from competing for anything. That is why a change of manager will change little, we may shoot back up the table but not to top 4.
There is no clear and obvious way for a quick fix. But the one that has connections to all factors here is the board. They need to man up and protect their investment on the pitch, or probably the latter here - sell the club and feck off with their profits.
We do lack quality up front and in central midfield to open teams up. Rashford and James are mainly good at counter attacks. Management and tactics need to improve as well to allow us to dominate games much more.
It will be very difficult for us to buy a centre back who is better at playing the ball out of defence than Maguire or a midfielder who is better at feeding attackers than Pogba. In this regard we have players that are among the best in the world.
On the other hand it would be laughably easy for us to buy attackers who are better at scoring and creating goals than Lingard, Mata and Pereira. Almost every team we play, including Partizan, have players who are better in this regard.
The one manager we've had so far that looked like having a clear philosophy, whether boring or not, was Van Gaal.
With the wingers he needed, which he often mentioned in press conferences, we'd have been much more entertaining.
With the wingers he needed, which he often mentioned in press conferences, we'd have been much more entertaining.
Our "manager" wouldn't get a job in Championship. Yes the squad is in a bad shape but there's no excuse for this sh*t football we're being served.
Damning on our midfield by the fact that Maguire is the main source of our more progressive play . More so,as evident, when Pogba is out.
Fred,McTomminay,Mata,Matic,Pereira and Lingard dont have the confidence or intelligence to play the ball forwards.
So why are they here ?
Why do they get contract renewals ?
Its a mess.