That’s the sad part. I don’t feel attachment to any of these guys . Keane was saying this post match about how United fans in the stands must be wondering the same. Imagine buying a jersey next summer and thinking of getting a name at the back , boy that would be a struggle
Hypothetically, if we actually went for major changes to the squad which players would you desperately like to retain?
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Likewise, sadly. I don’t know if that’s a matter of age or other things going on in my life but in the last decade or so it’s felt like a parade of footballers who’ve left absolutely no mark on me as a supporter. Back in the day it felt like there weren’t very many Poborskys, but latterly it has seems to be almost entirely made up of Mkhitaryans and Kagawas.
I don't really care too much but our problem is we will be keeping the worst of the lot.
Fred McTominay Maguire etc can only go to worse teams from United so they will be here for probably their entire careers.
The players we have that are atleast somewhat good can and will move to better teams.
So we will be making a bad squad worse before it gets any better.
I suspect we will have a worse team next season than we do this season.
Fred McTominay Maguire etc can only go to worse teams from United so they will be here for probably their entire careers.
The players we have that are atleast somewhat good can and will move to better teams.
So we will be making a bad squad worse before it gets any better.
I suspect we will have a worse team next season than we do this season.
Pogba, Sancho, Bruno, and Varane
Sancho and Elanga (and other youngsters) other than that there’s literally no one I’d be disappointed to see go. I’d be delighted to see the back of a lot of them but it’s going to take years.
Is the return on the field worth the type of money we will need to pay Pogba to persuade him to stay. That is the problem, persuade him to stay.
Pogba is not worth keeping for what he contributes.
de Gea, Bruno, Sancho and Elanga.
I’ve zero attachment to any of the other players or their respective contributions.
I’ve zero attachment to any of the other players or their respective contributions.
Didn't think so and if he did it would be for the money and that is all.
I also think it’s obvious that things are not good in the dressing room,some of our players love a moan on the pitch so I can only imagine how bad they are inside the dressing room. The toxicity is everywhere in this club
Sancho, Varane, Lindelof is a good squad option, Fred is a good squad option and the young lads.
Every single other player isn't good enough for this club if we want to compete, that includes Bruno, De Gea, Maguire and Shaw.
Mahrez/KDB/Foden/Grealish have more technical ability in their toe than all our attacking players and it showed. Bruno will get numbers but doesn't deserve to tie Bernardo's shoelaces, unfortunately our fans/board are stat merchants. Our board probably think Bruno is 10x better than Bernardo.
Every single other player isn't good enough for this club if we want to compete, that includes Bruno, De Gea, Maguire and Shaw.
Mahrez/KDB/Foden/Grealish have more technical ability in their toe than all our attacking players and it showed. Bruno will get numbers but doesn't deserve to tie Bernardo's shoelaces, unfortunately our fans/board are stat merchants. Our board probably think Bruno is 10x better than Bernardo.
An in form Bruno is the one player who would currently make it into City and Liverpool’s first teams.
Sancho is becoming a big player for us.
Pogba will be world class next year but it won’t be for us.
Everyone else has a ceiling of contesting for the top four.
Sancho is becoming a big player for us.
Pogba will be world class next year but it won’t be for us.
Everyone else has a ceiling of contesting for the top four.
I find it difficult to know for sure who is really just not giving a feck, and who is just corrupted the general menality in the squad at the moment. So it's kind of hard to say. Even those I expect to have a proper winning mentality seem to have just given up on trying their best.
Completely disagree. He loses the ball far too much for wither Pep or Klopp to take him serious.
I thought of some the players that played for us in the past.
Keane and Cantona for example.
What is the major difference between them and the players we have now?
Passion.
They had passion not just for the team but for the supporters.
They never gave up.
DGea (Saviuor so many times)
Dallot (Better than Shaw)
Telles (Better than Bissaka)
Varane (Class)
Fred (Better than McTominay who we criticize less because he's home grown)
Fernandes (Wish he would stay on his feet when he loses the ball l instead falling to the ground every time)
Pogba ( He wont stay, he's more suited to playing further forward as he will always play a couple of loose ball per match)
Sancho ( Best attacking option we have at the moment)
Ronaldo ( Still the best option, he would have more goals if his team mates passed to him instead of taking the option of trying to score themselves)
St Marcus (If he can make football his number one priority again)
The younger players, unfair to comment at this stage but no standouts for me.
Players I would prefer never to see in a Utd shirt again.
Shaw
Bissaka
Maguire
Lingard
The rest either there best days behind them and they play so infrequently its hardly worth keeping them.
Jones
Matic
Mata
Cavani
etc
Dallot (Better than Shaw)
Telles (Better than Bissaka)
Varane (Class)
Fred (Better than McTominay who we criticize less because he's home grown)
Fernandes (Wish he would stay on his feet when he loses the ball l instead falling to the ground every time)
Pogba ( He wont stay, he's more suited to playing further forward as he will always play a couple of loose ball per match)
Sancho ( Best attacking option we have at the moment)
Ronaldo ( Still the best option, he would have more goals if his team mates passed to him instead of taking the option of trying to score themselves)
St Marcus (If he can make football his number one priority again)
The younger players, unfair to comment at this stage but no standouts for me.
Players I would prefer never to see in a Utd shirt again.
Shaw
Bissaka
Maguire
Lingard
The rest either there best days behind them and they play so infrequently its hardly worth keeping them.
Jones
Matic
Mata
Cavani
etc
I think United has a host of players who none of us fans want to retain. Maybe Bruno and Pogba along with Varane and Sancho. Elanga gets a huge shout out but the rest can go. These guys r not quality intelligent players at all, they're useless below par players who need to go. I'm sure Ralf is shocked by the quality of players at his disposal. I'm sure he would've worked with better players before this and all the way throughout his career.
I think Klopp would play him up front and he'd be great. Pep though, probably a sub.
Retain for first 11:
Bruno
Sancho
Varane
DDG
Retain for Squad option:
Ronaldo (yes yes I know about his ego and all that)
Elanga
Lindelof
Shaw
AWB
McT
Heaton
The rest can feck off.
Bruno
Sancho
Varane
DDG
Retain for Squad option:
Ronaldo (yes yes I know about his ego and all that)
Elanga
Lindelof
Shaw
AWB
McT
Heaton
The rest can feck off.
To answer this question, one need to understand the club's vision from the very top. Are we happy with just top 4 or are we aiming for more? Cause there are players in there who are good enough for top 4 but will never win us the league. I am referring to the likes of Lindelof, Fred and McT.
After that we must ask what sort of system we want to play and stick to it. The likes of Maguire, AWB, Rashford and DDG are more suited for a deep line and a counter attack game then for an attacking game with a high line.
Finally we need to understand Greenwood's situation better. Is his career gone to flames? Cause we simply can't rely on 35 year old + strikers anymore. That's silly
Considering the enormity of the rebuild task we need to be shrewd on the transfer market by going for players who won't cost us a bomb, can adapt to different styles of games and are hungry for success.
After that we must ask what sort of system we want to play and stick to it. The likes of Maguire, AWB, Rashford and DDG are more suited for a deep line and a counter attack game then for an attacking game with a high line.
Finally we need to understand Greenwood's situation better. Is his career gone to flames? Cause we simply can't rely on 35 year old + strikers anymore. That's silly
Considering the enormity of the rebuild task we need to be shrewd on the transfer market by going for players who won't cost us a bomb, can adapt to different styles of games and are hungry for success.
What is the highest number of signings that a club has completed in the summer transfer window?
And what is the highest number of outgoings?
Would 10 of each be achievable?
And what is the highest number of outgoings?
Would 10 of each be achievable?
Retain for first 11:
Varane (still one of best CB around, despite always not fit)
DDG (still one of best keeper around, should keep him)
Sancho (a very disappointing season overall, but start to see something bright recently, would want to build new team with him)
Retain for squad rotation:
Ronaldo (very old but very experienced, still our top goalscorer, and likely to rise on big occasions)
Bruno (part of our current problem as he keep losing possession with his careless passing, but he is still impactful, and a great player when back to his form)
Elanga (young and energetic, work hard for the team, but not talented enough as starter for top team)
Telles (good backup option)
Dalot (good backup option)
Lindelof (good backup option)
VDB (would like to keep him for his passing ability alone, as we badly need that in our team, despite him not happy to play backup role for us anymore)
Summer Sale:
Maguire (fecking joke of a defender, with him in the starting line we are guarantee to loss over 10-15 points in the league due to his stupid errors alone)
Rashford (fecking useless player from what we've seen over past 1.5 years, he is totally done at this level)
Martial (lazy and not going to stay anyway, has been useless for long)
Pogba (can't stand the circus around him and not going to stay anyway)
Lingard (shite and not going to stay)
Cavani (old and not going to stay)
Matic (old and his legs are gone, can't last over 60mins per week)
Shaw (seen enough of him this season, he can stay for another season, but prefer him gone soon)
AWB (he is not going to develope into attacking wing back we need, just cut loss now and sell him)
Mctominay (we are not going to become top team ever again with McFred in midfield. Average at best, and very core to our problems)
Fred (we are not going to become top team ever again with McFred in midfield. Average at best, and very core to our problems)
Varane (still one of best CB around, despite always not fit)
DDG (still one of best keeper around, should keep him)
Sancho (a very disappointing season overall, but start to see something bright recently, would want to build new team with him)
Retain for squad rotation:
Ronaldo (very old but very experienced, still our top goalscorer, and likely to rise on big occasions)
Bruno (part of our current problem as he keep losing possession with his careless passing, but he is still impactful, and a great player when back to his form)
Elanga (young and energetic, work hard for the team, but not talented enough as starter for top team)
Telles (good backup option)
Dalot (good backup option)
Lindelof (good backup option)
VDB (would like to keep him for his passing ability alone, as we badly need that in our team, despite him not happy to play backup role for us anymore)
Summer Sale:
Maguire (fecking joke of a defender, with him in the starting line we are guarantee to loss over 10-15 points in the league due to his stupid errors alone)
Rashford (fecking useless player from what we've seen over past 1.5 years, he is totally done at this level)
Martial (lazy and not going to stay anyway, has been useless for long)
Pogba (can't stand the circus around him and not going to stay anyway)
Lingard (shite and not going to stay)
Cavani (old and not going to stay)
Matic (old and his legs are gone, can't last over 60mins per week)
Shaw (seen enough of him this season, he can stay for another season, but prefer him gone soon)
AWB (he is not going to develope into attacking wing back we need, just cut loss now and sell him)
Mctominay (we are not going to become top team ever again with McFred in midfield. Average at best, and very core to our problems)
Fred (we are not going to become top team ever again with McFred in midfield. Average at best, and very core to our problems)
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it's impossible to answer this question until we've a competent coach in place, there's plenty of talent in the squad but they're all floating in the wind at this point
It's a shambles and I fear once we're out of the CL there's a chance we may just drop like a stone as I don't feel these guys give a toss about Ralf or what he wants. Everyone is looking at either the door or the next manager
Keane is right, a scary lack of personal pride on show
It's a shambles and I fear once we're out of the CL there's a chance we may just drop like a stone as I don't feel these guys give a toss about Ralf or what he wants. Everyone is looking at either the door or the next manager
Keane is right, a scary lack of personal pride on show
I hope over the next 3 seasons virtually all are replaced. Would be great if all could be done in the summer. There is something rotten at utd that a major cull is the only way to stop it, it seems.
Elanga, Sancho, maybe without Ronaldo Bruno might come good again. All the others can go for me.
Elanga, Sancho, maybe without Ronaldo Bruno might come good again. All the others can go for me.
Sancho, De Gea and Varane and a lot of youngsters. The rest I'm okay with leaving
I would keep
jones - is a starter when fit,
varane - starter when fit,
lindelof - good back up and is not on huge wages or cost us that much,
shaw - deserves another chance as maybe he is suffering from a euro hangover,
dalot - on cheap wages and cheap buy and is good rotational player to have,
matic good squad player to have for certain games and in-game situations,
beek - is worth giving a chance under a proper modern coach that plays 3 in midfield,
sancho - definite starter,
elanga - good honest rotational player on modest wages,
lingard - wont be popular he has proven under van gaal, mourinho and ole that as long as you give a decent amount of playing time he is a good rotational player to have and will work his socks off,
bruno - only as a false 9 as he just gives the ball away too much when playing deeper.
jones - is a starter when fit,
varane - starter when fit,
lindelof - good back up and is not on huge wages or cost us that much,
shaw - deserves another chance as maybe he is suffering from a euro hangover,
dalot - on cheap wages and cheap buy and is good rotational player to have,
matic good squad player to have for certain games and in-game situations,
beek - is worth giving a chance under a proper modern coach that plays 3 in midfield,
sancho - definite starter,
elanga - good honest rotational player on modest wages,
lingard - wont be popular he has proven under van gaal, mourinho and ole that as long as you give a decent amount of playing time he is a good rotational player to have and will work his socks off,
bruno - only as a false 9 as he just gives the ball away too much when playing deeper.
50% of this squad are good (or better) players and would perform better with a decent structure and management system. Binning off everyone now would be the worst thing.
The first thing that needs sorting is the manager. Let things move from there.
With Fernandes, Sancho, Rashford and Elanga we have the basis of a decent attacking threat.
The goalkeeper and defensive situation need sorting asap though. Even with that, it comes back to developing a style of play.
The first thing that needs sorting is the manager. Let things move from there.
With Fernandes, Sancho, Rashford and Elanga we have the basis of a decent attacking threat.
The goalkeeper and defensive situation need sorting asap though. Even with that, it comes back to developing a style of play.
Wholesale rebuild. Anyone can leave as long as it moves the club forwards.
I would certainly keep, DDG, Varane, Lindelof, Telles, Fred, Bruno, Sancho, Elanga, Rashford (deserves another season under a new manager) and maybe Ronaldo.
Rest of the squad needs a major overhaul, obviously we can't do that next summer, but we can get rid of:
Pogba: contract expires, wants to leave, difficult personality
Cavani: injury prone, old, wants to leave
Lingard: contract expires, mediocre footballer
Mata: he can barely run, old, past it, is there a reason he is always on the bench ?
Martial: had too many chances and blew them all
Maguire: not good enough, we were scammed big time.
We have spent over 230 million on the above lot, can you believe that ?
Rest of the squad needs a major overhaul, obviously we can't do that next summer, but we can get rid of:
Pogba: contract expires, wants to leave, difficult personality
Cavani: injury prone, old, wants to leave
Lingard: contract expires, mediocre footballer
Mata: he can barely run, old, past it, is there a reason he is always on the bench ?
Martial: had too many chances and blew them all
Maguire: not good enough, we were scammed big time.
We have spent over 230 million on the above lot, can you believe that ?
Please I don’t want the new manager to give these lazy cnuts a new slate . Don’t want any of them stinking the place up again. Sick and tired of these cowards .
Bar Varane any one above 22 years should be fecked off and the club rebuilt again. There’s a deep rot in the squad , rotten attitudes and weak mentality all across.
Feck these players, a disgrace to our club and that disaster of a captain needs to be fecked off first. He’s the embodiment of everything wrong with this current Manchester United.
Bar Varane any one above 22 years should be fecked off and the club rebuilt again. There’s a deep rot in the squad , rotten attitudes and weak mentality all across.
Feck these players, a disgrace to our club and that disaster of a captain needs to be fecked off first. He’s the embodiment of everything wrong with this current Manchester United.
Bruno, Sancho, Elanga, Telles, maybe De Gea. Not sure about Varane. He is supposed to be good but for us he has been weridly shaky
The only player i'd be desperate to restain is Bruno.
But this is very theoretical there will be 2 or 3 in and 3 and 4 out and that will be it, because its not financially possible to do more than that.
But this is very theoretical there will be 2 or 3 in and 3 and 4 out and that will be it, because its not financially possible to do more than that.
I have tried to not be overly reactionary but I am sick to death with a lot of them.
Cavani - Never wants to play which to me is worse than playing and playing half arsed.
Ronaldo - Demands to always play every 90 despite playing awful 90% of the time. Flies to Portugal instead of watching the game he doesn't play in.
Rashford - Playing crap, little to no effort and then it comes out today he is considering his options? feck off
Bailly - Never fit enough to be reliable.
Martial - Might as well go. No effort.
AWB - Just laughably bad at this point.
Maguire - He does at least try but at what point is it no longer poor form?
Telles - Constant crosses from deep. Have we ever scored from one? For someone with 'good' delivery he's done feck all.
I like Varane, Sancho, Elanga & Bruno.
I fluctuate with de Gea (bad kicking but seems to care about the club), Pogba (incredible player but we all know the issues with him), Dalot (attitude seems to be good but I think he's average), Shaw (I like the way he plays but lacks the desire at times), McFred (inconsistent and poorly used)
Cavani - Never wants to play which to me is worse than playing and playing half arsed.
Ronaldo - Demands to always play every 90 despite playing awful 90% of the time. Flies to Portugal instead of watching the game he doesn't play in.
Rashford - Playing crap, little to no effort and then it comes out today he is considering his options? feck off
Bailly - Never fit enough to be reliable.
Martial - Might as well go. No effort.
AWB - Just laughably bad at this point.
Maguire - He does at least try but at what point is it no longer poor form?
Telles - Constant crosses from deep. Have we ever scored from one? For someone with 'good' delivery he's done feck all.
I like Varane, Sancho, Elanga & Bruno.
I fluctuate with de Gea (bad kicking but seems to care about the club), Pogba (incredible player but we all know the issues with him), Dalot (attitude seems to be good but I think he's average), Shaw (I like the way he plays but lacks the desire at times), McFred (inconsistent and poorly used)
They actually cared about the club. Some players now are always looking out for the next big payday.
Elanga and Sancho are young, motivated and hungry - the rest? Bye bye.....!
- Sancho
- Elanga
- Youngsters I don’t know enough about
We have quite a lot of players that I rate and like (DDG, Varane, Pogba, Bruno and others). They’ve all got faults that are significant enough to make them dispensable though.
Apart from Varane, Sanchon Maybe VdB, and Ronaldo for one more season, I can't think of any player whos departure will make me lose any sleep.
DeGea's distribution will always hinder us from being a team that can build from the back or keep possession against a high press.
Lindelof may be a decent backup, but only just. We need to get rid of Maguire, Bailly is rarely fit and makes too many mistakes
Some of our fullbacks are better than the other, but all 4 of them are squad players at best.
Out of our CM options. Fred and Scott can stay as squad players. Matic and Pogba need to leave.
Bruno's tactical inflexibility will always keep us away from playing a 433 formation, he can play only in a 4231 and there aren't many combination of CMs that we can buy/develop to play behind him. Nothing to say about Mata and Lingard.
Rashford, Martial don't seem like they care about football altogether. Elanga can be kept, to see how he develops.
Cavani is injured a lot, also easily past his best. Even Ronaldo makes sense only if the rest of the team is functioning and creating chances for him, he offers very little otherwise.
So in conclusion.
Varane, Sancho first team players
Lindelof, Dalot, Telles/Shaw, Scot, Fred, Elanga squad players.
DeGea's distribution will always hinder us from being a team that can build from the back or keep possession against a high press.
Lindelof may be a decent backup, but only just. We need to get rid of Maguire, Bailly is rarely fit and makes too many mistakes
Some of our fullbacks are better than the other, but all 4 of them are squad players at best.
Out of our CM options. Fred and Scott can stay as squad players. Matic and Pogba need to leave.
Bruno's tactical inflexibility will always keep us away from playing a 433 formation, he can play only in a 4231 and there aren't many combination of CMs that we can buy/develop to play behind him. Nothing to say about Mata and Lingard.
Rashford, Martial don't seem like they care about football altogether. Elanga can be kept, to see how he develops.
Cavani is injured a lot, also easily past his best. Even Ronaldo makes sense only if the rest of the team is functioning and creating chances for him, he offers very little otherwise.
So in conclusion.
Varane, Sancho first team players
Lindelof, Dalot, Telles/Shaw, Scot, Fred, Elanga squad players.
Bernardo Silva was, imho, such an obvious signing when he was at Monaco. The type of creator who would receive the ball in the wide areas and then tuck inside to make things happen. Great football intelligence with the technical skills to force the issue in compacted areas and against organized defences. I was not surprised when Pep snatched him. I was disappointed, but not surprised at all.
I think i agree with the gist of your post. Our inability to cut defences open with quick and decisive passing, the dithering on the ball when there aren't acres of space to run into, the shocking first touches and the unwillingness to work on the pitch for their teammates is quite telling. It was amazing that the club actually believed that we would be set for a decade with an attacking trident consisting of three forwards with zero ability in tight spaces. At some point, it seems that they could offer them Brazil's 1970 front-four for free and they would just wave it away saying that we have Tony, Rashy, Mason and Bruno.
Anyway, we do seem to be full of "moments" players. When their end product is enough to get us over the line, we gladly take the three points and sweep everything else under the rug. When we also have a manager who will keep them happy and cater the platform for them to simply "go out there and do their thing", we can get some prolonged periods of good form that will probably be enough for a top-four finish, but no higher. But, as a quarter of a century under SAF has taught us, the truly good sides are those who perform better than the sum of their parts. If the new manager gets us going, some of them - surely not all - will play their part and their contributions may prove important in crucial parts of the season. You know, provide us with these moments that can make or break a season. But this may become possible only if the purpose of the tactics and of the logic behind the team-building is to make the most of their contributions without trying to accommodate all their weaknesses.
The team is so lacking leadership and demanding of high standards that I'd nearly put Ronaldo in this list now. It was really apparent the last match that....nobody gives a feck. At least Ronaldo gives a feck.
Desperately? I would desperately keep three.
Sancho ST RW
CM DM Bruno
LB CB Varane RB
GK
Sancho ST RW
CM DM Bruno
LB CB Varane RB
GK
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