Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)

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el3mel

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Martial or Sanchez aren't good players (a whole lot more than that, in fact)? Bailly isn't a centerhalf of great potential? Fred? Herrera? Dalot potentially? Matic has had a bad season, but he was very good last season, let's not forget that. Lukaku may not be my cup of tea, but he was a very good goalscorer with room for imporvement.

And let's say our recruitment has been terrible. Well, those were all players our managers wanted, which goes back to the actual issue - wrong appointments.
You're evaluating players based on their potential only. That's the problem here most are falling in. There's absolutely no guarantee any of these will develop to great players, 50-50 chance, people were drooling over Darmian in his first 3 games as well.
 

Amir

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You're evaluating players based on their potential only. That's the problem here most are falling in. There's absolutely no guarantee any of these will develop to great players, 50-50 chance, people were drooling over Darmian in his first 3 games as well.
Not all players are like that. Sanchez certainly isn't. Lukaku hasn't been as good at United as he was for Everton. Even Pogba has struggled.

It's a mixture of everything. Mature, proven players; Young talents; Players who are already very good, and have more scope for improvement. Nothing has worked
 

Amir

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II have repeatedly said that I dont really have a problem with the appointment themselves, but that Ed making footballing decisions is not an environment in which a manager can be expected to succeed imo.
Was he wrong in deciding paying what Alderweireld of Maguire would have been the wrong decision?
 

el3mel

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Not all players are like that. Sanchez certainly isn't. Lukaku hasn't been as good at United as he was for Everton. Even Pogba has struggled.

It's a mixture of everything. Mature, proven players; Young talents; Players who are already very good, and have more scope for improvement. Nothing has worked
Sanchez was dog shite in his last half season with Arsenal and some here themselves wrote concerns about this but we all shut them down sayng he just switched off.

Lukaku did here what everyone was doubting him to be, with his crap touch and poor techcique, beside being absent in big games. You can't say anyone was surprised by this. We signed him hoping he'll improve here. Didn't happen. At Everton most kf his goals were usually coming against the relegation fodders in numbers (brace or hattrick). He's doing the same for Belgium. He has always been a flat track bully, we just hoped he will try and improve these problems with a big move, but the idiot went on and put more muscles on him to make him even worse. Can you see any manager who wants fast fluid attacking football wanting such a lump up front ?

Can't see how anyone can think someone like Fred is good, crap player who we made look better with this insane fee.

The quality player we signed was Pogba and he as his own problems. Martial is a good choice. The others are simply either good at best or over the hill/near their decline. Just because we overpay and overrate them doesn't make them any good.

I do agree that the managers here have been part of the problem and the current one needs sacking, but just because I want him sacked, I'm not going to pretend everything else in the club is fine. I have exactly the same ideas while both Moyes and LVG were here, that both deserved sacking, but the squad needed lots of work. Managers are part of the problem, but they're not the whole of it.
 

Amir

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I do agree that the managers here have been part of the problem and the current one needs sacking, but just because I want him sacked, I'm not going to pretend everything else in the club is fine. I have exactly the same ideas while both Moyes and LVG were here, that both deserved sacking, but the squad needed lots of work. Managers are part of the problem, but they're not the whole of it.
Don't get me wrong - we need to look beyond the issue of the manager. There's no vision at the club, other than appointing the available manager with most trophies around. We didn't get LVG because of his record with youth or style of play. And that's why when he was gone we went for a totally different manager like Mourinho. That was there was very little to build on from LVG's work, other than the odd player like Martial, Rashford or Lingard.

Managers will come and go, and we do need a structure and a plan that will allow for continuity. Whether it's a sporting director or whatever. It's not full proof - nothing in football even is - but it would give us a better chance.

Having said that, I firmly believe that had we changed nothing except for hiring the right manager, we'd have been in a far different place. Sometimes that is all that is required, especially as we do give managers space to work.
 

el3mel

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Don't get me wrong - we need to look beyond the issue of the manager. There's no vision at the club, other than appointing the available manager with most trophies around. We didn't get LVG because of his record with youth or style of play. And that's why when he was gone we went for a totally different manager like Mourinho. That was there was very little to build on from LVG's work, other than the odd player like Martial, Rashford or Lingard.

Managers will come and go, and we do need a structure and a plan that will allow for continuity. Whether it's a sporting director or whatever. It's not full proof - nothing in football even is - but it would give us a better chance.

Having said that, I firmly believe that had we changed nothing except for hiring the right manager, we'd have been in a far different place. Sometimes that is all that is required, especially as we do give managers space to work.
I agree with the first 2 Paragraphs.

Regarding the last one, well we would be. I don't disagree, as our squad is top 4 squad that can finish 3rd and with some efforts 2nd, the problem is, I don't see a title winning squad in it. The next manager can do well with this squad up to finishing 3rd but I doubt he's going to win the league which should be the ultimate target.
 

Farfetched

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Some new verbs for the 2019 OED

Woodward = acquisition of fools gold
Mourinho = turning diamonds into coal
Sanchez = to acquire gold for no return
Pogba = to talk the talk without walking the walk
Lukaku = art of making the simple look really difficult
Jones = a gift that keeps giving
 

steffyr2

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We have plenty of Ex reds like Irwin, Robson, Butt etc and SAF is still around.

I'm sure any sane person who had the best interests of the club would've advised Woodward not to pay the the ridiculous fees that were being asked by Spurs and Leicester for Aldeweireld and Maguire. £75m for Alderweireld and £80m for Maguire if you believe what was reported.
Any sensible person would not look to buy Toby or Perisic. Look at their ages and the transfer fees and how many years can they play? Jose wants players who can play for two or three years at the most.
The club wants players who can come and be at United for at least a few years.
I guess they didn't come up with better options tho' (this has been discussed to death, but once more)....all allegedly
Let me get this theory straight, those ex-reds
- Didn't want to buy the players Jose said he needed
- Couldn't think of any alternative
- Didn't discuss this with Jose
- Couldn't think of any other players that we might have been able to get (wingers, LBs or RBs, different forwards)
- Didn't discuss that with Jose either
- Left the existing team wondering who's really their boss
- Don't actually do any work on this
- Haven't come out and admitted that they were working within the club to undermine the existing manager

I certainly can believe that there are a lot of chattering ex-players behind the scenes who'd like to have power within the club. That really doesn't sound like a solid plan for how to run a club, though, and you can see (if that really happened) how that made a solid mess of this year.
 

steffyr2

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We have more money than Guardiola, lots more.
Anyone but a fool would understand that FFP relates spend to income and, as we have the highest income in the PL, we can spend more than any other club in the PL.
If we want to.
We do that on our wage bill . . which is the highest in the PL . .
Who's "we"? Man Utd is a small business vs Man City, who's funded by a small country. I think you're missing something.
 

Bob H from Manchester

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Who's "we"? Man Utd is a small business vs Man City, who's funded by a small country. I think you're missing something.
Your opinion could have traction were it not for the existance of ffp.
It works by allowing spend based on earnings - we earn far more than City and can therefore spend far more than City. If they were backed by the god Midas, China and the Rothschilds they still couldn't spend as much as we can because they don't earn as much as we do.
What is there not to understand about that?
If you get to understand what ffp is then you'll understand just how wrong your current notion is.

And we're not a small business; based on earnings, we're the very biggest football club.
 

Johan07

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If we do appoint a DoF this summer - and I hope that we do - it will not change Woodwards role one bit.
He will still be in charge of the financial side of things = wage budget, etc.
What it will do is to change the power structure under him by moving responsibility from the manager to the DoF.
Not from Woodward to anyone.
There seems to be a misconception of what a DoF, sporting or technical director does and what his role is at the club.
 

Adnan

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I guess they didn't come up with better options tho' (this has been discussed to death, but once more)....all allegedly
Let me get this theory straight, those ex-reds
- Didn't want to buy the players Jose said he needed
- Couldn't think of any alternative
- Didn't discuss this with Jose
- Couldn't think of any other players that we might have been able to get (wingers, LBs or RBs, different forwards)
- Didn't discuss that with Jose either
- Left the existing team wondering who's really their boss
- Don't actually do any work on this
- Haven't come out and admitted that they were working within the club to undermine the existing manager

I certainly can believe that there are a lot of chattering ex-players behind the scenes who'd like to have power within the club. That really doesn't sound like a solid plan for how to run a club, though, and you can see (if that really happened) how that made a solid mess of this year.
Why should our ex players come up with alternative targets to £75m Toby and £80m Maguire, if you believe what was reported. It's sheer lunacy to spend such sums on the players mentioned. It was Mourinho's job to come up with alternative targets not people like SAF, Butt, Robson or Irwin.

Woodward has made mistakes I admit that and one of the mistakes was hiring Mourinho against the wishes of Sir Bobby Charlton.
 

Moriarty

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Woodward has made mistakes I admit that and one of the mistakes was hiring Mourinho against the wishes of Sir Bobby Charlton.
So who did Bobby recommend then? I have no idea if he recommended anyone but Jose was the logical choice after Van Gaal. He was the biggest name around with trophies up the ying-yang. Bobby didn't like him because of the finger-poking incident but his track record was unimpeachable.
 

Adnan

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So who did Bobby recommend then? I have no idea if he recommended anyone but Jose was the logical choice after Van Gaal. He was the biggest name around with trophies up the ying-yang. Bobby didn't like him because of the finger-poking incident but his track record was unimpeachable.
His shit on a stick type of football was the reason I never wanted him and I made my feelings known on here at the time. That was the reason I never wanted him and why I believe his style never aligned with our club. Who Sir Bobby recommended I don't know obviously.

Klopp would've been someone that I would've liked but it's been reported that he turned us down.
 

Moriarty

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His shit on a stick type of football was the reason I never wanted him and I made my feelings known on here at the time. That was the reason I never wanted him and why I believe his style never aligned with our club. Who Sir Bobby recommended I don't know obviously.

Klopp would've been someone that I would've liked but it's been reported that he turned us down.
Woodward tried to sell us to Klopp as 'Disneyland' didn't he? I think a lot on here were in favour of getting him but I must admit, I thought Jose would be the one to get us back to the top of the tree. How wrong can you be?
 

steffyr2

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Your opinion could have traction were it not for the existance of ffp.
It works by allowing spend based on earnings - we earn far more than City and can therefore spend far more than City. If they were backed by the god Midas, China and the Rothschilds they still couldn't spend as much as we can because they don't earn as much as we do.
What is there not to understand about that?
If you get to understand what ffp is then you'll understand just how wrong your current notion is.

And we're not a small business; based on earnings, we're the very biggest football club.
They're spending more than we do, that's the obvious money we see...there's also the spending we don't see. There's a thread about this around here somewhere...
 

cheeky_backheel

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I wouldn't either :lol:

Was Woodward wrong in deciding paying what Alderweireld or Maguire would have cost would be far too much?
He was wrong in his overall management of it.

If the rumored prices are true, then I would tend to agree with declining (though i find it hard to believe that levy would trade one year of toby for 25-50m). But saying those prices are high implies there are similar players available for less and/or better players available at the same price point - we failed to sign any alternatives and that is the bigger problem. If those are the current market prices post VVD, then we cant say the are over priced but rather that we cant afford them.

On the other hand, I disagree with him paying 30m for fellaini, 40m for mata, 75m+ for lukaku, 40m for matic, agreeing to sanchez wages, paying our mediocre player high wages, extending contracts of players that should be sold and generally failing to sell unwanted players. Even hiring Mourinho after LvG essentially wasted many of the LvG transfers (depay, schneiderlin, blind etc), as we have had to sell them.

At the end of the day, his decisions show a lack of understanding of the game and lack of appreciation of the gravity of his choices on the pitch. For example, Mourinho fallout with Chelsea was ignited by the failure to sign Stones (as he was deemed too expensive by emenalo & co). How did Ed expect mourinho to react when he too vetoed his CB request? mourinho left chelsea close to relegation and we are lucky not to be on that end. His decisions killed the gains and momentum of finishing second last season.
 

Affirmation

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He has previously worked with Mauricio Pochettino at both Southampton and Spurs and is also from Manchester. Responsible for a lot of the great signings that happened at them clubs.
 
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devilish

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I hope once mou leaves he will be allowed to be united with all the crap players he signed for our behalf + his beloved fellaini. You wouldn't want him to lose his master plan b right?
 

RussellWilson

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We would finally be getting out shit together of we got him and Poch because we'd finally be planning. Amazing isn't it.
 

Adnan

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I'd be happy with Mitchell. He's done well in his career thus far and the experience he's picked up abroad will do him good. Also he's from Manchester which is brilliant imo.
 

Adnan

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Bild linked Mitchell to us at the end of September, saying he was our top choice as first ever technical director.
 

AltiUn

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He has previously worked with Mauricio Pochettino at both Southampton and Spurs and is also from Manchester. Responsible for a lot of the great signings that happened at them clubs.
Can someone link the article? Can't find it on the Mail's website.
 

sunama

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We would finally be getting out shit together of we got him and Poch because we'd finally be planning. Amazing isn't it.
I understand your excitement, but there are 2 problems.
1, we haven't hired Mitchell.
2, we haven't hired Pochettino.
3, hiring both of these is no guarantee of success.
 

bleedred

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There is nothing to this news. Eddie has fed this line to the media so many times this season whenever we have had a crisis.

In his mind, Eddie is the DOF and he would be very reluctant to give it to someone. If he felt that we needed a DOF, he could have done it anytime over the past 6 years.
 

AltiUn

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Bild linked Mitchell to us at the end of September, saying he was our top choice as first ever technical director.
He's also more recently been linked with Southampton.
 

RussellWilson

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I understand your excitement, but there are 2 problems.
1, we haven't hired Mitchell.
2, we haven't hired Pochettino.
3, hiring both of these is no guarantee of success.
I thought they'd be in charge for the trip to Anfield.
 

Greck

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I understand your excitement, but there are 2 problems.
1, we haven't hired Mitchell.
2, we haven't hired Pochettino.
3, hiring both of these is no guarantee of success.
it would however guarantee Jose's departure which is like a trophy for us
 

liamp

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Before we celebrate, keep in mind Mitchell's history is as a a director of recruitment. That's what he was at Southampton, Spurs and Leipzig. He's always worked under a Sporting Director, not as one.

If Mitchell's the guy they're targeting, they're probably still keeping a lot of power with the manager and Woodward will probably continue to be heavily (some would say too heavily) involved in football operations. I imagine Mitchell would be primarily tasked with fixing the Frankenstein scouting structure we have.
 

breakout67

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Before we celebrate, keep in mind Mitchell's history is as a a director of recruitment. That's what he was at Southampton, Spurs and Leipzig. He's always worked under a Sporting Director, not as one.

If Mitchell's the guy they're targeting, they're probably still keeping a lot of power with the manager and Woodward will probably continue to be heavily (some would say too heavily) involved in football operations. I imagine Mitchell would be primarily tasked with fixing the Frankenstein scouting structure we have.
If we do hire Mitchell it'll be to replace Ribalta. He will not be a director of football and those getting excited are misguided.
 
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