If you could rewrite history...

[sparx99]

If you could rewrite history and sign replacements for our key players who have left or retired over the year who would you have signed?

I think we all wish Van Der Sar was signed as Schmeichel's first replacement.

Personally, I think Daniele De Rossi may have been the closest replacement for Roy Keane available.

When we sold Ronaldo to Madrid they sold Robben to Bayern for €25m the same summer. They also sold Sneijder that summer for €15m. I'd have much rather had £50m for Ronaldo plus Robben and Sneijder.

 

[MrSingh2002]

Jose came into the job straight after Fergie and took over his absolute control at the club.

He and the fans wouldn't have become victims of Moyes and LVGs failed attempts at being Man Utd managers.

 

[Zlatattack]

If you could rewrite history and sign replacements for our key players who have left or retired over the year who would you have signed?

I think we all wish Van Der Sar was signed as Schmeichel's first replacement.

Personally, I think Daniele De Rossi may have been the closest replacement for Roy Keane available.

When we sold Ronaldo to Madrid they sold Robben to Bayern for €25m the same summer. They also sold Sneijder that summer for €15m. I'd have much rather had £50m for Ronaldo plus Robben and Sneijder.

I'd like to add not letting go of Tevez.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

In the summer of 99 after winning the treble we should have signed Edwin van der Sar and Sol Campbell. We would have retained the CL.

van der Sar
G. Neville Campbell Stam Irwin
Beckham Scholes Keane Giggs
Yorke Cole
​

Who is stopping that?

 

[sparx99]

In the summer of 99 after winning the treble we should have signed Edwin van der Sar and Sol Campbell. We would have retained the CL.

This pains me!

 

[shamans]

Jose came into the job straight after Fergie and took over his absolute control at the club.

He and the fans wouldn't have become victims of Moyes and LVGs failed attempts at being Man Utd managers.

Believe we would have been in a much worse situation.

The narrative would be that Mou's era only failed because we didn't back British talent and Neville would be touted as the next replacement.

 

[shamans]

We should have signed Wesley Sneijder some time around 2010. We would have another CL to us, no doubt in my mind.

On top of that, Rooney would not have to play that weird #10 role he always had to. He'd be completely free upfront and bang in goals like he did that one season.

 

[Offside]

Jose came into the job straight after Fergie and took over his absolute control at the club.

He and the fans wouldn't have become victims of Moyes and LVGs failed attempts at being Man Utd managers.

He would have had the balls to break up a championship winning team that nevertheless was still full of deadwood. Moyes tried to keep everyone (e.g. Rooney) and thought 'well this lot won the league I'll at least get top 4'

Actually, we needed a major overhaul straight away and Jose would have been good at that time for a couple of years.

 

[Zlatattack]

Not getting Klopp when Liverpool were in for him. LvG was struggling, we should have been brutal.

 

[Invictus]

The Argie duo of Batistuta and Redondo after we sold Dublin to Coventry and Gillespie to Newcastle in 1994. The former would have been sensational in front of Cantona...as well as a superb focal point for Giggs and Beckham, and the latter would complement Keane really well in that he could effortlessly dictate the game while Keane went from box to box. Ideally timed for the scrapping of the three-foreigner rule in the Champions League (Link), and Fergie (as well as Cantona) might have won it before 1999 with this Front 6...

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

The Argie duo of Batistuta and Redondo after we sold Dublin to Coventry and Gillespie to Newcastle in 1994. The former would have been sensational in front of Cantona...as well as a superb focal point for Giggs and Beckham, and the latter would complement Keane really well in that he could effortlessly dictate the game while Keane went from box to box. Ideally timed for the scrapping of the three-foreigner rule in the Champions League (Link), and Fergie (as well as Cantona) might have won it before 1999 with this Front 6...

Winner

/thread

 

[Class of 63]

If you could rewrite history and sign replacements for our key players who have left or retired over the year who would you have signed?

I think we all wish Van Der Sar was signed as Schmeichel's first replacement.

Personally, I think Daniele De Rossi may have been the closest replacement for Roy Keane available.

When we sold Ronaldo to Madrid they sold Robben to Bayern for €25m the same summer. They also sold Sneijder that summer for €15m. I'd have much rather had £50m for Ronaldo plus Robben and Sneijder.

I so wish folk would stop bringing that up, both lads said at the time they would not be involved in any swap/part-exchange deal for Ronaldo, so it was always a no-go, and you're reading comics if you think Madrid would have sold either player to us later at the prices they eventually went for.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

A year before Aguero moved to Athletico, I wrote a letter to United (I was a young, stupid football-scout wannabe) begging then to buy him and Berbatov. I wish SAF would have read that and acted on it

 

[Marcus]

Jose came into the job straight after Fergie and took over his absolute control at the club.

He and the fans wouldn't have become victims of Moyes and LVGs failed attempts at being Man Utd managers.

Exactly this.

 

[devilish]

- Buying Batistuta and Zidane
- not allowing the spat between M&M and Sir Alex to develop
- us not sign Berbatov, Kenyon, Veron, Foster, Carroll, Taibi and Bosnich
- removal of the value signing strategy
- Pogba should have been given an opportunity instead of us letting him rot until he left for Juve
- we should have signed a modern manager with good man management skills after Sir Alex

 

[Jericholyte2]

I would have had David Gill stay on after Fergie left and had Klopp installed as manager, with Woodward staying underneath doing his amazing brand-building.

I genuinely believe that, in the long term effect it’s had on the club, Gill was a bigger loss than Fergie.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

In terms of players Hazard could have been a huge signing for us especially when you consider the paucity of quality we've had after.

But when it comes to major decisions it has to be the managerial/leadership ones. Moyes, Woodward, Mourinho etc.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Jose came into the job straight after Fergie and took over his absolute control at the club.

He and the fans wouldn't have become victims of Moyes and LVGs failed attempts at being Man Utd managers.

I don't think Mourinho would have succeeded. In hindsight, we needed IMO a progressive attack minded coach post SAF who brought something fresh to the table. We didn't realise at the time but the squad was declining big time and the void of SAF would have been felt regardless of whether it was Moyes or Jose/LVG. So I disagree with this fairly popular notion that Mourinho straight after SAF would have been a success.

And he wasn't a victim of Moyes and LVG's failure. He was part of the failed managers club himself.

 

[Florida Man]

I'd like to know what @Amadaeus would suggest.

 

[Florida Man]

Signing Ronaldinho would have been pretty sweet.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

I'd like to add not letting go of Tevez.

Sorry, but Tevez was horrible in his last season. What did he score? 5 goals? It sucked that he went to City, but he wasn't very good...

 

[SadlerMUFC]

We should have signed Wesley Sneijder some time around 2010. We would have another CL to us, no doubt in my mind.

On top of that, Rooney would not have to play that weird #10 role he always had to. He'd be completely free upfront and bang in goals like he did that one season.

I never liked Rooney in the #9. He did score a lot of goals that year but he's a player who likes a lot of touches on the ball and he was never good with back to goal. In the big games I always felt like he was always good for a yellow card because he wasn't getting enough touches and would get frustrated. I always felt that Rooney in a free role was when he was most dangerous. The #10 was ideal for him IMO. He could come all the way back to our own corner flag to chase down an attacker and could run past our striker and it never effected us with our shape. Let him off his leash and let him run...

 

[SadlerMUFC]

- Buying Batistuta and Zidane
- not allowing the spat between M&M and Sir Alex to develop
- us not sign Berbatov, Kenyon, Veron, Foster, Carroll, Taibi and Bosnich
- removal of the value signing strategy
- Pogba should have been given an opportunity instead of us letting him rot until he left for Juve
- we should have signed a modern manager with good man management skills after Sir Alex

Pogba didn't rot. He was a teenager who had to wait his turn. He was young but had an agent chirping in his ear. In his first year at Juve he got just as many games as he would have at United if he stuck around. I was 100% behind SAF for letting him go and against bringing him back

 

[devilish]

Pogba didn't rot. He was a teenager who had to wait his turn. He was young but had an agent chirping in his ear. In his first year at Juve he got just as many games as he would have at United if he stuck around. I was 100% behind SAF for letting him go and against bringing him back

I very much doubt he would have gotten as many games tbh. Sir Alex preferred Cleverley & Rafael in midfield to him. His successor couldn't bother give Zaha a chance

 

[Sky1981]

Pogba didn't rot. He was a teenager who had to wait his turn. He was young but had an agent chirping in his ear. In his first year at Juve he got just as many games as he would have at United if he stuck around. I was 100% behind SAF for letting him go and against bringing him back

Iirc pogba was playing straight into first team. And he didnt look back after that. Far more than the occasional cup games under saf.

Saf patinces was a virture by itself but by no means everyone's cup of tea. With what pogba had achieved i dont think stayjng at united would do him any better and he made the right decision

 

[Jim Beam]

Wish I could have seen prime Ronaldinho doing his magic here instead in Barcelona. Was really close too.

I'd like to know what @Amadaeus would suggest.

 

[Eric7C]

He would have had the balls to break up a championship winning team that nevertheless was still full of deadwood. Moyes tried to keep everyone (e.g. Rooney) and thought 'well this lot won the league I'll at least get top 4'

Actually, we needed a major overhaul straight away and Jose would have been good at that time for a couple of years.

Yes, just for a couple of years. He would have fecked off after that because that's what Jose does. We would have had a couple more titles mind.

 

[Mainoldo]

Jose taking over after Fergie. He’d have been sacked by now but we’d have won 2 extra titles.

 

[lsd]

Abu Dhabi taking over United and not City

 

[NWRed]

The Argie duo of Batistuta and Redondo after we sold Dublin to Coventry and Gillespie to Newcastle in 1994. The former would have been sensational in front of Cantona...as well as a superb focal point for Giggs and Beckham, and the latter would complement Keane really well in that he could effortlessly dictate the game while Keane went from box to box. Ideally timed for the scrapping of the three-foreigner rule in the Champions League (Link), and Fergie (as well as Cantona) might have won it before 1999 with this Front 6...

Didn't we try for Batistuta but couldn't afford his wages?

EDIT: https://www.insideworldsoccer.com/2017/11/why-sir-alex-ferguson-missed-out-gabriel-batistuta.html

 

[NWRed]

Abu Dhabi taking over United and not City

No thanks, they can keep their dirty oil billions and hollow success.

 

[Affirmation]

We should of signed Raheem Sterling from Liverpool and given him the number 7. Apparently we had interest but not sure to what degree, I remember reading reports at the time that LVG didn't see much in him but again I'm not sure how factual that is. Imagine if we had also kept Wilfred Zaha and started him with Sterling in the two winger positions. We would of had two potentially elite England wingers players in our team

 

[NWRed]

Pogba didn't rot. He was a teenager who had to wait his turn. He was young but had an agent chirping in his ear. In his first year at Juve he got just as many games as he would have at United if he stuck around. I was 100% behind SAF for letting him go and against bringing him back

There were opportunities to play Pogba from the start but SAF chose not to, most notably against Blackburn in December when he played Rafael in CM. That should really have been his turn but SAF held him back for some reason. He only started to bring him on as a sub later in the season when we realised the one year option on his contract was unenforceable and he was looking to leave.

Also SAF didn't let him leave, he didn't have a choice. His contract ran out and he wouldn't sign another.

 

[2cents]

Thinking realistically (much as I think Redondo would have been perfect for us at any stage in the late 90s/early 00s, I doubt he’d have ever come):

Robben and Sneijder instead of Valencia and Owen in summer 2009.

Makelele and Naybet in summer 2000 instead of Veron and Blanc in summer 2001.

The failure to strengthen properly after our two Fergie-era CL victories really irritates me. Pretty certain we’d have a couple of extra CLs and leagues with these or similar moves.

(Edit): and obviously a proper keeper in 1999 or 2000.

It also feels like we should have tried harder to stop players like Aguero, Toure, Silva, Hazard and Van Dijk from going to rivals, but ultimately we can’t buy everybody.

And obviously in the post-2013 era where almost every signing has disappointed there’s any number of options that we could list.

 

[harms]

The Argie duo of Batistuta and Redondo after we sold Dublin to Coventry and Gillespie to Newcastle in 1994. The former would have been sensational in front of Cantona...as well as a superb focal point for Giggs and Beckham, and the latter would complement Keane really well in that he could effortlessly dictate the game while Keane went from box to box. Ideally timed for the scrapping of the three-foreigner rule in the Champions League (Link), and Fergie (as well as Cantona) might have won it before 1999 with this Front 6...

That’s just filthy! Although this would’ve probably fecked up Scholesy’s career(at least at United).

 

[Affirmation]

We should of also signed Douglas Costa from Santos, we were linked with him quite a bit at the time and there was genuine interest in the player. I even remember activating for us to do the deal, would of been a brilliant signing.

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

Instead of strengthening after the 99 season, we became weaker, never understood this and never will.
The summer of 2009 was just an absolute joke.

We should of also signed Douglas Costa from Santos, we were linked with him quite a bit at the time and there was genuine interest in the player. I even remember activating for us to do the deal, would of been a brilliant signing.

He’s never been brilliant anywhere so I’m very much in doubt he’d have been particularly good here.

Douglas Costa, pfff... let your imagination run people.
I would’ve gone back and signed Messi when he was a toddler before Barca managed to put their claws anywhere near him.

 

[buckooo1978]

if you are re-writing history I am shocked so many would have selected the Fergie era

post-Fergie has been a disaster so it has to be this era

had we persuaded Klopp to come on board we'd be flying right now

 

[Josh 76]

Thinking realistically (much as I think Redondo would have been perfect for us at any stage in the late 90s/early 00s, I doubt he’d have ever come):

Robben and Sneijder instead of Valencia and Owen in summer 2009.

Makelele and Naybet in summer 2000 instead of Veron and Blanc in summer 2001.

The failure to strengthen properly after our two Fergie-era CL victories really irritates me. Pretty certain we’d have a couple of extra CLs and leagues with these or similar moves.

(Edit): and obviously a proper keeper in 1999 or 2000.

It also feels like we should have tried harder to stop players like Aguero, Toure, Silva, Hazard and Van Dijk from going to rivals, but ultimately we can’t buy everybody.

And obviously in the post-2013 era where almost every signing has disappointed there’s any number of options that we could list.

The summer of 2009 was the one.
Valencia was a great signing to be honest. But having Robben instead of Obertain was the one. Sneijder would have been perfect for us at the time too.

 

[Gopher Brown]

A year before Aguero moved to Athletico, I wrote a letter to United (I was a young, stupid football-scout wannabe) begging then to buy him and Berbatov. I wish SAF would have read that and acted on it

Are you sure you remembered to mention Aguero?