We all know that this season a deadly disaster was averted only by John Guidetti’s wobbly legs like Bellion.
But the question is what must Man Utd do to avoid this scenario again? In many ways, this season was risky. To make an analogy, it was like being on a big cruise ship heading towards an iceberg with an £89.3m banjo player on the deck. The banjo player is excellent, but what if the ship sinks?
Yet is this a problem? In a manner it is not, because football is all about money – hence the famous phrase ‘Moneyball’. Everyone knew that winning the Europa League would be worth £50m, and this is only one season. Ultimately money is what matters, which is why the Glazers are better owners than David Gold.
What we see is that to succeed Man Utd must earn as much money as possible – also we know how valuable the sponsorship deals are to the club. To come back to our analogy, what if the ship did sink (Man Utd lost the Europa League)? Well, in one scenario, everyone says "That's sad" and then forgets. But in another, there's £89.3m banjo player on the deck, and everyone says, “The ship was rubbish because it crashed into an iceberg and sank, but the banjo player – he was very impressive.”
How can we relate this logic to Utd?
1) Sign players that will make a mark on the world, raising profile and so income (Galacticos)
2) Sign players that will increase commercial income
In order to achieve number 1, Pogba is a good start. He is recognised globally and also comes with his own emoji.
This summer, Griezmann was discussed, but then much embarrassment and upset was created. Man Utd should pay the release clause to show that we are the biggest club on earth, and then Sir Alex Ferguson plus Pogba and Patrice Evra (who can translate) should go to Madrid to explain why he should join Utd. If there is room, Ibrahimovic and Beckham could also go as they may speak French from playing at PSG. If this does not work, Beckham can speak Spanish.
I know Man Utd did not do this with Sir Alex Ferguson. But he had the ability to make ordinary people look like world class footballers, e.g. Liam Chadwick, Darren Fletcher, Ji-Sung Park, Darron Gibson, Tom Cleverley.
It will cost a lot of money, but it also earns as well. Real Madrid spent a lot of money, e.g. £46m for Zidane (actually good value because they got a free manager), £80m for Ronaldo, and €75m for Kaka who as his name suggests turned out to be crap. This made them famous, and then lots of players joined cheaply, e.g. £25m Kroos, £25m Modric, £15m Ozil, £12m Khedira, Loan Adebayor which makes it cheap overall, and whenever they want a Spanish player they join.
In order to achieve number 2, there are many players who make profit around the globe, which means that in the future it will be easier to buy good players and win all the competitions. E.g. during friendlies in South Korea the crowd screamed when Ji-Sung Park was on the big screen with his crutches. As golden_blunder once said, “Break the bank for Pato”, and although it turned out that he was wrong and Pato was rubbish, this would have been excellent for the South American market. This might sound impossible but see below some ideas.
Current team:
De Gea
Valencia – Bailly – Rojo – Shaw
Herrera – Carrick – Pogba
Rashford – Griezmann – Mkhitaryan
Ideas:
1) Offer Mata (already have other Spanish players) to Real Madrid in exchange for Madrid not buying De Gea
2) Sign Shinji Kagawa (Asian market, already knows United) to replace Mata
3) Sign Chicharito (South American market, already knows United) to replace Ibrahimovic who becomes a coach
4) Swap Lingard (Rashford also from Manchester) with either Andre Ayew or Asamoah Gyan (West African market)
5) Sign Brazilian (e.g. Walace from Hamburger) in exchange for Michael Carrick and cash
6) Sign Yacine Brahimi (North African market) from Porto as a backup for Ayew / Gyan
7) After 1 year assess gaps in global popularity and select 2 / 3 new signings e.g. China
New Team:
De Gea
Valencia – Bailly – Rojo – Shaw
Pogba – Brazilian – Herrera
Rashford – Griezmann – Mkhitaryan
This new team looks almost the same, which is OK. We don’t need to play these players all the time, especially if they are rubbish, but they can be on the bench and come on sometimes so that they are popular and Man Utd is famous, and winning is not as important now anyway.
To explain, consider the analogy, so now even if the ship sinks, everyone stands and says ‘Hey the £89.3m banjo player was great, the £80m French trombonist impressed me and I was very glad to see someone from my world region as the fourth trumpeter so I will buy a ticket again next year,’ and then there is lots of money to buy the great players who will want to join for cheap prices anyway like Kroos which allows even more spare to buy Mbappe, Bale, Ronaldo etc. so the deadly disaster risk is never a problem again and Utd can win all of the competitions.
But the question is what must Man Utd do to avoid this scenario again? In many ways, this season was risky. To make an analogy, it was like being on a big cruise ship heading towards an iceberg with an £89.3m banjo player on the deck. The banjo player is excellent, but what if the ship sinks?
Yet is this a problem? In a manner it is not, because football is all about money – hence the famous phrase ‘Moneyball’. Everyone knew that winning the Europa League would be worth £50m, and this is only one season. Ultimately money is what matters, which is why the Glazers are better owners than David Gold.
What we see is that to succeed Man Utd must earn as much money as possible – also we know how valuable the sponsorship deals are to the club. To come back to our analogy, what if the ship did sink (Man Utd lost the Europa League)? Well, in one scenario, everyone says "That's sad" and then forgets. But in another, there's £89.3m banjo player on the deck, and everyone says, “The ship was rubbish because it crashed into an iceberg and sank, but the banjo player – he was very impressive.”
How can we relate this logic to Utd?
1) Sign players that will make a mark on the world, raising profile and so income (Galacticos)
2) Sign players that will increase commercial income
In order to achieve number 1, Pogba is a good start. He is recognised globally and also comes with his own emoji.
This summer, Griezmann was discussed, but then much embarrassment and upset was created. Man Utd should pay the release clause to show that we are the biggest club on earth, and then Sir Alex Ferguson plus Pogba and Patrice Evra (who can translate) should go to Madrid to explain why he should join Utd. If there is room, Ibrahimovic and Beckham could also go as they may speak French from playing at PSG. If this does not work, Beckham can speak Spanish.
I know Man Utd did not do this with Sir Alex Ferguson. But he had the ability to make ordinary people look like world class footballers, e.g. Liam Chadwick, Darren Fletcher, Ji-Sung Park, Darron Gibson, Tom Cleverley.
It will cost a lot of money, but it also earns as well. Real Madrid spent a lot of money, e.g. £46m for Zidane (actually good value because they got a free manager), £80m for Ronaldo, and €75m for Kaka who as his name suggests turned out to be crap. This made them famous, and then lots of players joined cheaply, e.g. £25m Kroos, £25m Modric, £15m Ozil, £12m Khedira, Loan Adebayor which makes it cheap overall, and whenever they want a Spanish player they join.
In order to achieve number 2, there are many players who make profit around the globe, which means that in the future it will be easier to buy good players and win all the competitions. E.g. during friendlies in South Korea the crowd screamed when Ji-Sung Park was on the big screen with his crutches. As golden_blunder once said, “Break the bank for Pato”, and although it turned out that he was wrong and Pato was rubbish, this would have been excellent for the South American market. This might sound impossible but see below some ideas.
Current team:
De Gea
Valencia – Bailly – Rojo – Shaw
Herrera – Carrick – Pogba
Rashford – Griezmann – Mkhitaryan
Ideas:
1) Offer Mata (already have other Spanish players) to Real Madrid in exchange for Madrid not buying De Gea
2) Sign Shinji Kagawa (Asian market, already knows United) to replace Mata
3) Sign Chicharito (South American market, already knows United) to replace Ibrahimovic who becomes a coach
4) Swap Lingard (Rashford also from Manchester) with either Andre Ayew or Asamoah Gyan (West African market)
5) Sign Brazilian (e.g. Walace from Hamburger) in exchange for Michael Carrick and cash
6) Sign Yacine Brahimi (North African market) from Porto as a backup for Ayew / Gyan
7) After 1 year assess gaps in global popularity and select 2 / 3 new signings e.g. China
New Team:
De Gea
Valencia – Bailly – Rojo – Shaw
Pogba – Brazilian – Herrera
Rashford – Griezmann – Mkhitaryan
This new team looks almost the same, which is OK. We don’t need to play these players all the time, especially if they are rubbish, but they can be on the bench and come on sometimes so that they are popular and Man Utd is famous, and winning is not as important now anyway.
To explain, consider the analogy, so now even if the ship sinks, everyone stands and says ‘Hey the £89.3m banjo player was great, the £80m French trombonist impressed me and I was very glad to see someone from my world region as the fourth trumpeter so I will buy a ticket again next year,’ and then there is lots of money to buy the great players who will want to join for cheap prices anyway like Kroos which allows even more spare to buy Mbappe, Bale, Ronaldo etc. so the deadly disaster risk is never a problem again and Utd can win all of the competitions.
