Is The Uncertainty Around The Club Distracting The Players?

[jderbyshire]

Playing for United of course comes with enormous pressure and scrutiny - and we all know the post-Fergie years in particular have felt like a never-ending tumultuous circus that each new coaching regime tries to steady.

But with the takeover (or lack of) situation hanging over the club and now the Greenwood backlash - the uncertainty is very intense.

I think tactically, the lack of a striker is affecting the set-up of the team but we can all see that the players in general don't seem to be showing the same intensity and drive that our top 4(5) rivals are.

Is it a fitness issue? Tactical? Personnel?

Or is the team's overall performance reflecting the uncertainty and unclarity regarding the direction of the club?

 

[Stobzilla]

A lot of the players are just not equipped.to be starters at the very top level. You know what you will get week in, week out from about 3 of them and one of those has a 2 game sample size.

Most of them can be good on their day, but the bad days are.more than the good ones and some of them barely look like footballers when it isn't going for them.

 

[Plant0x84]

I think the MG return is a bigger impact on the players than the non-takeover, although I don’t accept that either is a reason for the players to not be professional and perform on the pitch.

 

[Revan]

MG’s potential return, maybe.

The takeover I don’t see why. Oh my God, my chèque is gonna be signed either by Jim or Jassim instead of Avram, I don’t know how I will be able to play today.

 

[The Oracle]

The forward(s) lead the line.

Whenever Rashford plays up front he spits his dummy out (his body language is shocking and it filters down through the team), case in point today that after he was switched to his favoured left wing position, he started to put some effort in. Before that he was refusing to challenge for headers (read that again... he refused to challenge for headers and he was playing up front). Not even his recent new contract he has signed for circa £300K per week, has changed his bad attitude.

We have players with overinflated ego's, and Rashford is the prime example of that.

Then we have Bruno who continually gives the ball away.

Rashford and Bruno are supposedly our two best players. Unbelievable that they're the United standard.

In a nutshell we have players whose attitudes stink and players who just simply aren't at the required standards to compete with the likes of City, Pool and soon to be Newcastle.

We also have a stubborn manager who inherited two very pricey duds (Maguire and Sancho), and has now brought in two very pricey duds of his own (Antony and Mount) and will continue to play his signings regardless of how poor and out of place they are in the team


...and that's before we even get to the current ownership debacle.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

I very much doubt they're thinking much of it

 

[RedDevilQuebecois]

Oh please...

If they can't find a way to shield themselves from distractions, then why would people say those are professional footballers in the first place?

 

[bosnian_red]

It's impossible for it not to. You're not going to be a successful team on the pitch when there are so many major issues left in the balance, unanswered by those in charge of the club. The extent that it affects is debatable, but it for sure has an effect.

 

[tentan]

No. Stop making excuses.

 

[DRJosh]

The players have laughably weak mentalities. Every single one of them bar the new signings, because they haven't been with us for long.

If it isn't the ownership or MG uncertainty, it will be something else.

And the worse part is, ETH is starting to talk like managers before him, refusing to acknowledge that his team haven't been dominating games or imposing their presence in the majority of matches both this season and in pre-season.

 

[Get In Scholesy]

It probably is in fairness to them. However, even with that being the case, it doesn’t take away from the fact that many of these players are just shite.

 

[m1tch]

I don't think they need much excuse to turn in sub-standard performances. They've demonstrated time and time again they're mentally not up to it. See our away form and the thrashings we've had. Most of them have talent but they only show it the minimum amount of the time for selfish reasons (I.e., just to stay in the team, not get sold, get new contracts).

 

[Lecland07]

Yes, you can see that just when one of them is about to play a pass a picture of Greenwood or the Glazers pops into their mind; they suddenly lose all sense of self and pass it straight to the opposition.

 

[M Bison]

It definitely won’t be helping the players, it just feels as though “there’s always something” distracting the football side.

last season we had the Ronaldo stuff, now we have Greenwood, plus the ownership stuff on top. Now the fans are starting to turn on the manager (again), there’s division within the club and the fan base on so many aspects.

 

[King7Eric]

If this is the case then these players are even more incapable than previously thought.

What has MG returning got to do with them being shite? Was he the reason we have been rubbish since the Carabao Cup final? He spoke with them before they lost 7-0? He gives Antony pep talks before every game so that he plays as bad as he does?

We really need to stop making excuses for these players. The tactics and performances are sub par. They are what needs to improve, not the type of excuses we make for these players.

 

[JanK]

No. Stop making excuses.

I agree.

I feel that it's quite pointless to root for the team as long as the takeover hasn't been completed. I still feel everything wrong in the club starts with the board and it won't change at all until they have been shipped out.
Even if the takeover is complete, but Glazers keep the stake and have some influence, it doesn't solve anything.

 

[predator]

Nah.


These players have gone through many obstacles in life to play for a team like us. They are one of 30 or so men who are doing something that millions of men wanted to do but couldnt. They are confident, self assured and maybe arrogant. They play infront of thousands of people most weeks and are more scrutinised than anyone in the public eye, in the UK anyway.


There's no harm in thinking that the players are genuinely worried about the ownership though, or convincing yourself that it's the reason why we got dicked by wolves and spurs.

 

[Jeffthered]

The forward(s) lead the line.

Whenever Rashford plays up front he spits his dummy out (his body language is shocking and it filters down through the team), case in point today that after he was switched to his favoured left wing position, he started to put some effort in. Before that he was refusing to challenge for headers (read that again... he refused to challenge for headers and he was playing up front). Not even his recent new contract he has signed for circa £300K per week, has changed his bad attitude.

We have players with overinflated ego's, and Rashford is the prime example of that.

Then we have Bruno who continually gives the ball away.

Rashford and Bruno are supposedly our two best players. Unbelievable that they're the United standard.

In a nutshell we have players whose attitudes stink and players who just simply aren't at the required standards to compete with the likes of City, Pool and soon to be Newcastle.

We also have a stubborn manager who inherited two very pricey duds (Maguire and Sancho), and has now brought in two very pricey duds of his own (Antony and Mount) and will continue to play his signings regardless of how poor and out of place they are in the team


...and that's before we even get to the current ownership debacle.

The mentality across (within) the club is significant... the change at Board level (Woodward was a disaster..) from the true football man Gill working with SAF, to the Woodward debacle.

I just watched the quite wonderful short interview SAF gave this week to NBC sports. He still, still sounds like the guy who knows more about managing a big club, more than many (maybe not all) current managers. He mentioned a number of important things, one being that there's no point players arriving at Utd without any expectation of pressure.... but, and this is key for me, he said that players ' must have their own expectations..'

Think about that. Then think about Keane who often speaks about a player's own pride, for their performance, their own approach to a game, a season.

Too many of our players completely lack that. OGS facilitated that nonsense and ETH, to his credit is trying to change that. But it's difficult.

I'm frustrated and a little worried, but I retain hope that these matters will be resolved. We have some good players there. I agree, Bruno needs someone to pull him into line, but I fear we don't have those voices.

Martinez, Shaw and even the keeper (yes, in such a short time..) seem like those who may be vocal about things. But I don't want them to be vocal, I want them to be angry. Beligerent at times. Like Scholes. Keane. Neville. Eric. Sparky. Evra. Schmeichal. Rio. Bruce. CR7. Tevez. Rooney. RVP. Teddy. Cole. Forget their talent, all these players had similar personailities which sometimes upset people.

Well, tough luck. We need players with more nuts in this club, at Boardroom level, and on the pitch. If Klopp thinks you're rubbish, he gets rid of you. If you fall out with Pep, you're out. Aguero, Cancelo. He was digging out KDB last season, put him on the bench. These manager's demand a certain mentality, no negotiation, no foolisheness.

We used to be the best at that.

 

[Cloud7]

Man why do we always have to try to find some excuse other than "It's just not been good enough"

It's so tiresome.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

I don’t think the MG is that distracting at the moment. If he returns then sure, but at the moment no. The club sale is the biggest distraction at the moment and frankly until we sell we won’t go anywhere.

 

[Mickeza]

No I don’t think so. Playing well, missing chances before then totally collapsing is just the DNA of this team currently away from home against good teams. There’s a big enough sample size to show that now.

 

[SirAF]

The takeover I don’t see why. Oh my God, my chèque is gonna be signed either by Jim or Jassim instead of Avram, I don’t know how I will be able to play today.

This. Most of the players probably can't even name the different bidders.

 

[alexanderplatz]

In high performance environments the smallest things can make a difference. This is a big thing and everyone at the club is wondering what’s going on. That underlying feeling must be hanging over everyone and I imagine it’s quite distracting. Just wish the glazers would go away

 

[Denis79]

Don't think they are distractes but who knows? It seems more likely to me that ETH is trying a new tactic that isn't working so far.

 

[tentan]

This. Most of the players probably can't even name the different bidders.

Most of them probably don't even know who the Glazers are. Could walk past them in the training ground without a clue.

 

[Abraxas]

It's a shocking excuse for the players. Maybe I am cynical but my view is that most players do not really care about the same stuff as fans, or at least they're not invested into the detail. I simply don't believe they are pouring over Reuters articles on Qatar, Jim Ratcliffe, valuations, bidding rounds, shareholdings. I'm not saying they won't have a cursory understanding and discussion of what's going on but they are on long-term contracts for the most part, there isn't huge amounts riding on it for them and I simply don't believe it is having a big impact on training or playing on the pitch. The biggest priorities are likely to be the stuff that directly impacts them such as what is my contract, am I getting paid and what is this bald bloke saying in training every day.

Now, is it a reason for the manager being compromised? Well, possibly. That's a different issue because it may be a distraction to senior management within the club which the manager works with. It may be impacting communication. It may be impacting decisions the owners are taking and not nececssarily for the better of the sporting side. He may have had to draw up plans for different eventualities depending on the information he is receiving that we are not privy to. So you could say it is potentially awkward for a manager, you'd rather have clarity over what your bosses are doing.