Mason Greenwood - Football Discussion Only

[stevoc]

I have a feeling that he might be back playing for United next year after a loan. It's not what I want, I'd prefer if he was sold but the fact he hasn't been already leads me to believe the club/manager are looking for a path to reintegrate him into the squad. They'll be looking to gauge reactions of Sponsors and fans before making their next move, which is why a loan seems like the most obvious route.

Not sure what the fan reaction to his return would be especially at OT. Though it has to be said there wasn't much backlash against Ronaldo (twice), Evans and Van Persie (at Arsenal) who all faced and had similar accusations dropped.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Im gutted with the whole thing. Imho the most exciting youth player in ages.

 

[RedorDead21]

Really? Luke Shaw missed over 50 games after his double leg break and has been alright since.

He was fully established and physically fully developed when that happened. I’d say greenwood has his work cut out he’s missed training for a long time.

 

[arthurka]

Hope he is given a chance to redeem himself, he made a mistake as a young kid with the world at his feet. If the parents and the girl find it ok to give him another chance Utd should too.

 

[giggs-beckham]

Hope he is given a chance to redeem himself, he made a mistake as a young kid with the world at his feet. If the parents and the girl find it ok to give him another chance Utd should too.

Have they given him another chance then,is he still with her?

 

[Yakuza_devils]

Everyone deserves a second chance. In term of purely football decision is a no brainer. We have very poor scoring records and we desperately need a ST. MG is a very good striker and best natural finisher in the team.

Let him back and also sign another ST we are good to go for next season. We need two ST after last season poor performance. Martial should be 3rd choice and Rashford should stick to LW.

 

[King7Eric]

He was fully established and physically fully developed when that happened. I’d say greenwood has his work cut out he’s missed training for a long time.

Shaw was 20 when it happened I think. Same age as Greenwood. I don't think the missed playing time or training will be the issue if he was to make a comeback, it will be the mental aspect of it. Can he handle the abuse that's going to come his way? No one can predict that.

 

[golden_blunder]

Why, though? He wasn’t employed by United when all this started, and when a new manager comes in you’d normally expect them to start everything with a clean slate.

There’s a difference in a clean slate because you haven’t been posting well for the last manager and the situation we have now.
but not going deeper on that, respect the rules

 

[evil_geko]

Yeah, it must be much easier to come back and play in the PL with a pacemaker at 30 after almost dying than returning at 21 after 18 months of doing feck all.

And you missed the whole point.

Here is another post that touches on my point.

He was fully established and physically fully developed when that happened. I’d say greenwood has his work cut out he’s missed training for a long time.

 

[Cloud7]

Do people mind that ten Hag seemingly wants him back? Does that impact their opinion on the matter?

I will copy my thoughts on this from the ETH thread.

To be completely fair as the head coach its ETH's job to put the football first. I say this as someone who does not want MG back in the team. It's not ETH's responsibility to deal with that, that's on the higher level club management to make that call. His job is to work with the players that he has available. Something outside of that scope, such as the ethical dilemma of letting MG back or not should be up to the upper management.

ETH has been hired to coach the football team. Nothing more. His job is to get the most out of the players he is presented with. It is up to Murtough, Arnold, Glazers if they want to bring MG back into the fold or not. ETH quite rightly, should just be looking at the football side of things. Expecting more of him is being unfair to him in what is already a very high pressure job.

 

[Alemar]

MG is a very good striker and best natural finisher in the team.

It’s an overstatement to say he is “a very good striker” (he didn’t play a lot as a striker yet), but he is definitely the best finisher and in general the best shooter of the ball in the team, by a margin.

That said, he is not very strong in heading the ball (which would be very important for a striker) - but maybe it could be coached

 

[CantonaManc]

Lets be honest here, the club doesn't give a sh*t about what fans think of him (not talking only about United but any club in this situation), all they care about is that he could be a potentially massive financial asset.

Mason Greenwood is a huge talent, but Manchester United must consider their next move very carefully... Erik ten Hag is facing one of the biggest dilemmas of his managerial career. If this was a youth player deemed not good enough they (like any club) would have cut him without a second thought. It’s not about whether it’s an act the club can condone. It’s about whether he’s talented enough to risk the disrepute this may bring.

Greenwood is in a very unique situation , so it's not going to be easy for him to make a return. In general he is the best shooter of the ball in the team and was 1 of the most exciting talents at his age.

Anyway 18 months of no playing and training is a huge set back on development but if he can overcome this i will gladly accept him in football terms because i still think that he is our best attacker even now and will be much better than some of the forwards going for insane amounts currently. He would need a lot of support from high management and high profile players to get this through with the fans.

Like I said, no hate on any individual, I’m sure you all stand by your convictions, but as football fans in general, we value winning way more than we value stuff like this. The fecked up thing for me is, after enough time passes no one will care. Everyone getting hot and bothered now but a years time when he bangs a few goals in CL final or whatever 99% of people won’t care. They’ll be a few comments and that will be it. It’s not a morality question, it’s a sponsorship question.

 

[redcucumber]

I will copy my thoughts on this from the ETH thread.



ETH has been hired to coach the football team. Nothing more. His job is to get the most out of the players he is presented with. It is up to Murtough, Arnold, Glazers if they want to bring MG back into the fold or not. ETH quite rightly, should just be looking at the football side of things. Expecting more of him is being unfair to him in what is already a very high pressure job.

It's interesting to think about. If ten Hag's only concern is to get the best out of the football team and nothing more (which I sort of disagree with - I think managers to varying degrees are concerned with broader perspectives to do with the well-being of the club, beyond just results on the pitch) and assuming reports are correct that his preference would be to bring Greenwood back into the team, he must not see it as a potential disruptor to squad harmony.

Also, why would we trust Murtough, Arnold, and the Glazers to make decisions that influence the club's image and reputation and not ten Hag?

 

[Alemar]

Anyway 18 months of no playing and training is a huge set back on development

He definitely trained - privately. Gym, fitness, probably private football coaches too

 

[flameinthesun]

Just on the Ten Hag point, I'd imagine he knows a lot more of the situation than we do.

If the club is in agreement to bring him back then I support them. The question is whether he reintegrates into football with us or on loan at another team. Having had 1.5 years out of football I do also think its quite risky sending him on loan where there may be no guarantee of football. Where as at united he could start out in reserves, then build up to cup games etc. He will get abuse for the first season or so either way but at some point if the decision is to reintegrate him into the team then the club has bite the bullet at some point.

He will not be the first or last player to face a hostile crowd, I think the part we may be overlooking is whether he can handle it mentally. Ronaldo could, a few others as well. But will be interesting to see how it all plays out. If the club decides not to bring him back then it'll be interesting to see what club picks him up. With his talent he will end up in a top league at some point.

 

[stoinz]

Purely football reasons - then I want him in the fold. Loan him out for half a season then come back later half when majority of our forwards are out injured. If we end up having not enough funds to sign a striker then I'll stick him around the first team. As it is inevitable that Martial will be out injured for a period of time.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

MG is a very good striker

I'm really not sure why this keeps being assumed. He's played mostly as a wide forward for us and the few times he's played as a lone striker he hasn't set the world on fire.

 

[Devil You Know]

Shaw was 20 when it happened I think. Same age as Greenwood. I don't think the missed playing time or training will be the issue if he was to make a comeback, it will be the mental aspect of it. Can he handle the abuse that's going to come his way? No one can predict that.

It took Shaw about 6 years after that to become a fully confident, developed and reliable first team player.

By missing those 6 months he failed to unlearn his bad habits and they stuck with him for much longer than they should have. By comparison, Greenwood will have been out for at least 19 months when he returns to competitive football.

 

[Cloud7]

It's interesting to think about. If ten Hag's only concern is to get the best out of the football team and nothing more (which I sort of disagree with - I think managers to varying degrees are concerned with broader perspectives to do with the well-being of the club, beyond just results on the pitch) and assuming reports are correct that his preference would be to bring Greenwood back into the team, he must not see it as a potential disruptor to squad harmony.

Also, why would we trust Murtough, Arnold, and the Glazers to make decisions that influence the club's image and reputation and not ten Hag?

I somewhat raised this point yesterday, wondering if we as a fanbase perhaps are overestimating the negatives that him coming back would actually bring with it. It's not seemed to be an issue for players at other clubs with charges hanging over their heads, and it didn't seem to be an issue with Suarez or Terry's racism incidents either, in terms of squad harmony or sponsorship issues. I agree with you that if ETH's preference would be to bring him back then he likely does not see it as a potential disruptor, and indeed he would know more than the fans and press, both in terms of what actually happened as well as how the other players feel about it.

With regards to your second paragraph, it's not a matter of trusting them, it's a matter of it being their responsibility. ETH is a club employee hired to manage the first team, issues of the club's image and reputation are not his concern. Managers are a revolving door. If we start off the season losing ten in a row then ETH will be gone. Decisions like this should be handled by the upper management who are responsible for the club as a whole. It is very unfair to ETH try to put any sort of responsibility for this on him. That's not his job.

 

[Oranges038]

And you missed the whole point.

Here is another post that touches on my point.

I still don't see the point.

You can almost guarantee he's been training to some level, to keep his fitness up, he's probably been doing ball work as well with other people and maybe he's even had private coaching sessions.

And as others have already pointed out, Shaw missed a similar amount of time at the same age with a horrible leg break. He came back fine. so did Aaron Ramsey. His development might be stunted, but at 19 he was already miles ahead of most other players his age, it won't take that long for him to get his match sharpness and fitness levels back up.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Doubt it V

I hope I'm wrong too

 

[dinostar77]

Good player, but not as good as people are making out on here. He is not the difference between top 4 and challenging for the title, so not worth the hassle or bad PR.

2 aboard loans and leaves on a free in June 2025, would be best all round.

He is that good and has the potential to be so. Where would we have finished with 15-20 extra goals from him this season?

 

[dinostar77]

I have a feeling that he might be back playing for United next year after a loan. It's not what I want, I'd prefer if he was sold but the fact he hasn't been already leads me to believe the club/manager are looking for a path to reintegrate him into the squad. They'll be looking to gauge reactions of Sponsors and fans before making their next move, which is why a loan seems like the most obvious route.

Not sure what the fan reaction to his return would be especially at OT. Though it has to be said there wasn't much backlash against Ronaldo (twice), Evans and Van Persie (at Arsenal) who all faced and had similar accusations dropped.

I think your correct. Utd arent going to dump a potential £100mil british talent. Strikers are the most expensive and hardest position to recruit for. We have a guy whos the best natural finisher at the club.

A season away is a good idea. Atalanta would be good as it would be a tactical education for him as well. He'd come back a stronger player.

 

[DutchSerb]

Good player, but not as good as people are making out on here. He is not the difference between top 4 and challenging for the title, so not worth the hassle or bad PR.

2 aboard loans and leaves on a free in June 2025, would be best all round.

But he could be tbe difference between making top 4 and falling out of it. This team is not ready for a title challenge, whatever some may believe.

 

[massey]

The mental gymnastics in this thread is amazing now it seems ten hag is a robot who's only concern is fielding 11 players to win a football match regardless of if they have chemistry/get along or the consequences of how it affects the future of that said team.Being a manager is more than just switching off and ignoring players problems and personalities it's what makes them and there teams who they are.

 

[Hammondo]

He is that good and has the potential to be so. Where would we have finished with 15-20 extra goals from him this season?

The most he has scored is 10 PL goals, the season after 7, the season after 5 (less games). Let's not get carried away.

 

[MDFC Manager]

Have they given him another chance then,is he still with her?

Off topic for this thread, but you'll find some compelling answers to that on the web.

 

[Strelok]

Shaw was 20 when it happened I think. Same age as Greenwood. I don't think the missed playing time or training will be the issue if he was to make a comeback, it will be the mental aspect of it. Can he handle the abuse that's going to come his way? No one can predict that.

Based on what I've read about him and surely what happened imo it's pretty safe to say he's a twat, a dick, an ahole cocky selfish prick. But so does Ronaldo, Mbappe and imo a considerable number of famous players as well.

The thing about those guys is imo they don't give much feck about anything but themselves and what they want. And they have almost an impeachable and unbreakable self belief in their ability, themselves and that they could do no wrong. So looking into this in a positive way imo we don't have to worry much about the mental aspect of the whole business him returning back. It's not like he's a sentimental lovely nice guy who care about what other people think or feel I think.

 

[Peter van der Gea]

Too many Masons spoil the cathedral

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Everyone deserves a second chance. In term of purely football decision is a no brainer. We have very poor scoring records and we desperately need a ST. MG is a very good striker and best natural finisher in the team.

Let him back and also sign another ST we are good to go for next season. We need two ST after last season poor performance. Martial should be 3rd choice and Rashford should stick to LW.

Greenwood has shown very little as striker to suddenly move ahead of Martial in the pecking order. The one season Greenwood was at his best, Martial was better.

 

[Oranges038]

The Mason situation is a completely different kettle of fish though.

Resigning CR7 wasn't controversial and he wasn't outed as a (supposed) domestic abuser and potential rapist.

I don't see how you can even compare the 2 with a straight face

The club took him back twice after certain allegations were made. There's 173,000,001 reasons why he chose SA over the MLS.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Based on what I've read about him and surely what happened imo it's pretty safe to say he's a twat, a dick, an ahole cocky selfish prick. But so does Ronaldo, Mbappe and imo a considerable number of famous players as well.

The thing about those guys is imo they don't give much feck about anything but themselves and what they want. And they have almost an impeachable and unbreakable self belief in their ability, themselves and that they could do no wrong. So looking into this in a positive way imo we don't have to worry much about the mental aspect of the whole business him returning back. It's not like he's a sentimental lovely nice guy who care about what other people think or feel I think.

Very good point. It reminds me of a documentary I listened to on Radio 4 many years ago about elite private schools (Eton, etc). The students/teachers talked about how the purpose of the school - beyond academics - was to guide them as leaders with higher self-belief in their abilities than your average person, so that by the time they leave they have this unwavering ability in themselves.

I expect top level sportspeople are in the same bracket psychologically and it's what makes them different to most people - and like politicians why they can be insidious when they channel that energy in the wrong way.

 

[Zlatattack]

Too many Masons spoil the cathedral

We'd only have 2, one working just behind the other. They'd be in close communication really.

 

[Peter van der Gea]

We'd only have 2, one working just behind the other. They'd be in close communication really.

They won't get sacked if they do anything wrong in these religious places, just moved to a new position

 

[Rocksy]

The mental gymnastics in this thread is amazing now it seems ten hag is a robot who's only concern is fielding 11 players to win a football match regardless of if they have chemistry/get along or the consequences of how it affects the future of that said team.Being a manager is more than just switching off and ignoring players problems and personalities it's what makes them and there teams who they are.

You’re on a false premise here. Obviously most who think MG should be allowed back in would be arguing that on the basis that ETH thinks the chemistry within the squad would be alright. I reckon most of the players would probably be okay with it as long as he’s not an obnoxious cnut in the football/training environment. If he’s on form and banging in goals, and not being a dick, they will look at that first and foremost. That’s what professional footballers do.

 

[redcucumber]

I somewhat raised this point yesterday, wondering if we as a fanbase perhaps are overestimating the negatives that him coming back would actually bring with it. It's not seemed to be an issue for players at other clubs with charges hanging over their heads, and it didn't seem to be an issue with Suarez or Terry's racism incidents either, in terms of squad harmony or sponsorship issues. I agree with you that if ETH's preference would be to bring him back then he likely does not see it as a potential disruptor, and indeed he would know more than the fans and press, both in terms of what actually happened as well as how the other players feel about it.

With regards to your second paragraph, it's not a matter of trusting them, it's a matter of it being their responsibility. ETH is a club employee hired to manage the first team, issues of the club's image and reputation are not his concern. Managers are a revolving door. If we start off the season losing ten in a row then ETH will be gone. Decisions like this should be handled by the upper management who are responsible for the club as a whole. It is very unfair to ETH try to put any sort of responsibility for this on him. That's not his job.

Good post, some interesting points. He'll be well aware of the intense scrutiny he'll be under if/when Greenwood is eligible for selection but as you said, being able to deflect that overall decision to the top brass protects him and the players (and the fans, in a way) of accepting him back into the fold.

 

[Cloud7]

You’re on a false premise here. Obviously most who think MG should be allowed back in would be arguing that on the basis that ETH thinks the chemistry within the squad would be alright. I reckon most of the players would probably be okay with it as long as he’s not an obnoxious cnut in the football/training environment.

Wasn't it reported at some point that this actually is the case

 

[Yakuza_devils]

It’s an overstatement to say he is “a very good striker” (he didn’t play a lot as a striker yet), but he is definitely the best finisher and in general the best shooter of the ball in the team, by a margin.

That said, he is not very strong in heading the ball (which would be very important for a striker) - but maybe it could be coached

It's clear that he will be developed into a striker with his lethal finishing. He was young when he break through and need experience playing as wide forward.

 

[Cloud7]

Good post, some interesting points. He'll be well aware of the intense scrutiny he'll be under if/when Greenwood is eligible for selection but as you said, being able to deflect that overall decision to the top brass protects him and the players (and the fans, in a way) of accepting him back into the fold.

Yeah. It will be interesting to see what the outcome of this is. Personally I don't want him back, and if he does come back I would find it quite difficult to reconcile with celebrating when he scores and such, but equally it's not something I'm going to stop supporting the club over, so whatever happens, happens.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

Greenwood has shown very little as striker to suddenly move ahead of Martial in the pecking order. The one season Greenwood was at his best, Martial was better.

If I put a gun to your head to choose a ST who will you pick? At the very least MG will be available most of the time rather than in physio room like Martial.