Mourinho is our best option

[OneUnited24]

Personally anyone questioning JM has a short memory if they cant recall us under Moyes and LvG. I get it, City look amazing at the moment and it hurts because we just arent as good but Pep took over a good side and made them great with a few signing and good backup options. JM had a worse starting postion but you can see the progress the teams making.

At this rate we'll be well on course to better our points tally since SAF left. And thats even without a functioning attack... give him one more season to address the creativity issues in the team just like hes done with the defence and CMF positions.

 

[Werd.]

Best way to put it, there are players who are bottling it and being paid well above their pay grade to be leaders. The whole thing is a mess of LVG's creation, the amount of title winners and core leaders he gutted was criminal. All we can do is be patient because it will take time to make something, or rebuild something here.

Yep, the rebuild will take time to complete and so far it is on track, imo. You can't turn meek players into winners and Jose knows it best so hopefully he will get rid of the weak links asap.

 

[Gentleman Jim]

Jose clearly needs around four more players to make his project work. Malcom, Weigl, Sessegnon and one more perhaps. He's steadied a ship that was sinking like the Titanic so he deserves respect.

I don't buy into this 'he hasn't won trophies so he shouldn't be considered' nonsense though when discussing better fits. Valverde at Barcelona looks like he will guide Barca back to silverwear this year and no one even knew who he was a year ago. Zidane at Real another example. I believe Jose will get it right next season and his rebuild was so big that he was never gonna do it in his second season.

My beef with Jose is that he us obsessed with spending big instead of trying to get a bargain he can develop over a year or two as Klopp has done with Mane, Ox, Salah and as Pep has done with Sane and Jesus.

If Jose can start showing he's happy to look for bargains he can develop then I'm happy for him to stick around for a while. I feel Poch is a better fit even though he's won zero cups but happy to give Jose one more season next year to see what he can do with a squad full of players he has brought in.

Bit disrespectful to Valverde that.
He's done a good job in difficult circumstances at Bilbao, Valencia and Espanyol plus had great success in Greece.
He was even on the shortlist together with Mourinho and Guardiola to replace Rijkaard at Barcelona in 2008 so hardly a one season wonder.

 

[Jaybomb]

He will need to get rid of

Smalling
Jones
Young
Mkhitaryan
Herrera
Martial
Shaw
Ibra
Carrick
Darmian


He will need to get rid of all these and replace them with better players who play the Mourinho way. He can’t work miracles and he shouldn’t be settling for players he knows won’t work in his system. Martial and Mkhitaryan are talented players but they’re not MOURINHO players. They don’t suit United’s traditional way of playing and it’s obvious when watching them play for us. Some people don’t want to hear it but it’s the truth.

I would ship them all off in January and the summer and then go on a City-like spending spree. If you want to compete with that squad and their depth, it has to be done.

Bring in:

Alex Sandro to replace Young
David Luiz to replace Smalling
Perisic or Willian to replace Mkhitaryan
Griezmann to replace Martial
Chicharito to replace Ibra

Recall Fosu Mensah and Pereira to replace Jones and Carrick.

We would be better for it in my book. All of these players strike me as Mourinho “fighters” and players who would fit Man Utd more than the dross I’ve mentioned. It will be a lot of money but we know they’re ALL available and top quality winners so we can’t sleep on it and persist with the same average players next season. It simply won’t work. Pep knew it and Jose has to aswell.

 

[GM K]

Tbh, I wouldn't be too disappointed if Mourinho left tomorrow morning. I was always a fan of his even when he was at Chelsea and I thought he would bring his winning mentality and mix it with the United identity but sadly it hasn't worked out like that. As others have said, he hasn't been the same Mourinho since his spell at Real Madrid. He just doesn't seem as enthusaistic or bothered as much as he used to be but there is no doubting that he is a fantastic football manager.
The defensive tactics in big games especially Liverpool at Anfield and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge are particularly hard to watch. Now I know even Fergie struggled at those places but we didn't even try to attack under Mourinho, especially against a Liverpool defense that is all over the place when put under pressure. I think we need an attacking manager to bring us back to where we belong and tbh none of Moyes, LVG or Mourinho are that type of manager. The main problem is there is not many of these types of managers available atm.

You are right about the Liverpool game but the Chelsea game was end to end stuff for many parts of the game. We were just outplayed.

About Jose not being bothered anymore, I really don't think so. I think what we are seeing is someone trying to change as a person. He's maturing. He's trying to be more mellow and less reactive.

Honestly, we have to give him more time. He is clearly improving that team when one considers the context of where we have been since Fergie left rather than the context of where City is. Can we really say that Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal or Liverpool have better teams than we do this season? Maybe time will tell but so far, based on the table, we have a slight edge over them. We couldn't say the same last season. We were stuck in the 6th position.

 

[GM K]

He really needs to gut the squad rather than hanging onto the dross and thinking he can work miracles. Also, he underestimated just how poor the mentality of our squad as a whole is. Though, I would back him to make the required changes.

I am not sure he underestimated anything. I think he knew exactly the mess he was signing up to clean and he kept talking about how he likes to take up very challenging jobs and how he knew the United job was difficult considering the state of the team. It's we United fans that probably didn't realize how bad the team was from both a personnel quality angle and a psychological state perspective.

I keep saying that Jose has done a good job so far when we consider the context of the club since Fergie left rather than the context of City's current form.

Let's back him up and give him some more time. United will be back on top soon.

 

[Kapardin]

Part of the problem is this. When Jose came in, I expected the guy who benched Casillas at Real to clear out our deadwood. Likes of Blind, Darmian, Valencia (he's done), Mata (despite recent form, we need better), and others. But in his first presser, when he trotted out the line, "I am okay with Mata now although I binned him earlier", alarm bells started ringing. He did get rid of Rooney eventually, but Rooney wasn't a major issue once he accepted his bench status.

I still think he's got it, but his experience at Chelsea has made him more cautious in player management. He has tolerated mediocrity rather than setting Woodward a pre-condition that he needed atleast 6-7 players in. This could be his undoing if he is not more ruthless this summer.

We didn't sell one first team player in his first summer. Considering the state of our squad, that's bloody atrocious.

 

[Tanel]

Part of the problem is this. When Jose came in, I expected the guy who benched Casillas at Real to clear out our deadwood. Likes of Blind, Darmian, Valencia (he's done), Mata (despite recent form, we need better), and others. But in his first presser, when he trotted out the line, "I am okay with Mata now although I binned him earlier", alarm bells started ringing. He did get rid of Rooney eventually, but Rooney wasn't a major issue once he accepted his bench status.

I still think he's got it, but his experience at Chelsea has made him more cautious in player management. He has tolerated mediocrity rather than setting Woodward a pre-condition that he needed atleast 6-7 players in. This could be his undoing if he is not more ruthless this summer.

We didn't sell one first team player in his first summer. Considering the state of our squad, that's bloody atrocious.

Maybe Woodward & co set him with a spending limit instead, so Jose had to accept that until he thought that he could still get the results.
As of late it's becoming more and more obvious that with such limit on, you can't compete with the likes of League leaders. That's why he has come out and said that the budget has been too small..

 

[Kapardin]

Maybe Woodward & co set him with a spending limit instead, so Jose had to accept that until he thought that he could still get the results.
As of late it's becoming more and more obvious that with such limit on, you can't compete with the likes of League leaders. That's why he has come out and said that the budget has been too small..

Yes, it is obvious a budget exists. No denying that.

But I also believe Jose has gone soft. Remember when he joined, he leaked an article to Sky through Andy Burton claiming he wouldn't purchase a proper striker in his prime, but would get Zlatan so that Rashford can "develop". Would the old Jose care about such things?

His sacking at Chelsea made him sore about the criticism over his player management. He was also pressured by the media and even United fans/legends on the youth policy. He was way too eager to please everyone, most unlike him, and this is the result.

Hopefully, he sees the error of his ways. We need the old Jose back.

 

[Randall Flagg]

He will need to get rid of

Smalling
Jones
Young
Mkhitaryan
Herrera
Martial
Shaw
Ibra
Carrick
Darmian


He will need to get rid of all these and replace them with better players who play the Mourinho way. He can’t work miracles and he shouldn’t be settling for players he knows won’t work in his system. Martial and Mkhitaryan are talented players but they’re not MOURINHO players. They don’t suit United’s traditional way of playing and it’s obvious when watching them play for us. Some people don’t want to hear it but it’s the truth.

I would ship them all off in January and the summer and then go on a City-like spending spree. If you want to compete with that squad and their depth, it has to be done.

Bring in:

Alex Sandro to replace Young
David Luiz to replace Smalling
Perisic or Willian to replace Mkhitaryan
Griezmann to replace Martial
Chicharito to replace Ibra

Recall Fosu Mensah and Pereira to replace Jones and Carrick.

We would be better for it in my book. All of these players strike me as Mourinho “fighters” and players who would fit Man Utd more than the dross I’ve mentioned. It will be a lot of money but we know they’re ALL available and top quality winners so we can’t sleep on it and persist with the same average players next season. It simply won’t work. Pep knew it and Jose has to aswell.

The ramblings of a 10 year old.

 

[Pyroblazer]

Personally anyone questioning JM has a short memory if they cant recall us under Moyes and LvG. I get it, City look amazing at the moment and it hurts because we just arent as good but Pep took over a good side and made them great with a few signing and good backup options. JM had a worse starting postion but you can see the progress the teams making.

At this rate we'll be well on course to better our points tally since SAF left. And thats even without a functioning attack... give him one more season to address the creativity issues in the team just like hes done with the defence and CMF positions.

The problem is I don't think we have improved that much. And seriously improving from Moyes or LvG is not a huge achievement, I think there a ton of managers outthere who can do that, you don't need Jose for that. Have we really improved that much from last year? Are we playing better football or is it just more money spend and better individual quality. Fair play for Jose for getting us in the 2nd position so far, but we are shit, we don't look like the second best team in England at all and I think the results are catching up with our performances. In 9 out of 10 games we are shit these days and that shouldn't happen. We could have won against Leicester, but we could have also lost yesterday or dropped points against West Brom. All our latest games have been struggles against weak opposition which shows that we are just not good enough. Our season got worse which doesn't speak for his management, but a few players here and there will make us competitive?

If you think Jose needs time to sort it out, it's your opinion of course. But when did Jose improve a team in a 3rd season? When did Jose not have much of an impact at any of his teams? When did he bring up a team again after weak performances. I just don't think Jose has that in his locker and his latests comments are similiar to his fallout sessons at other clubs. I hope I am wrong but I think it's going downhill from here and in a few months we will be in a situation where it is much more difficult to defend Jose, so I just hope our club is prepared for that.

 

[Bojan11]

Chicharito and Luiz

Then adding William in there too. The only player we should sign that is over 28 is Ozil and that’s because he is on a free.

 

[Kostov]

He will need to get rid of

Smalling
Jones
Young
Mkhitaryan
Herrera
Martial
Shaw
Ibra
Carrick
Darmian


He will need to get rid of all these and replace them with better players who play the Mourinho way. He can’t work miracles and he shouldn’t be settling for players he knows won’t work in his system. Martial and Mkhitaryan are talented players but they’re not MOURINHO players. They don’t suit United’s traditional way of playing and it’s obvious when watching them play for us. Some people don’t want to hear it but it’s the truth.

I would ship them all off in January and the summer and then go on a City-like spending spree. If you want to compete with that squad and their depth, it has to be done.

Bring in:

Alex Sandro to replace Young
David Luiz to replace Smalling
Perisic or Willian to replace Mkhitaryan
Griezmann to replace Martial
Chicharito to replace Ibra

Recall Fosu Mensah and Pereira to replace Jones and Carrick.

We would be better for it in my book. All of these players strike me as Mourinho “fighters” and players who would fit Man Utd more than the dross I’ve mentioned. It will be a lot of money but we know they’re ALL available and top quality winners so we can’t sleep on it and persist with the same average players next season. It simply won’t work. Pep knew it and Jose has to aswell.

Should we make Rojo captain while we are at it?

 

[Jaybomb]

Chicharito and Luiz

Then adding William in there too. The only player we should sign that is over 28 is Ozil and that’s because he is on a free.

What would Özil improve? We have a similar player in Mata. We need old fashioned fast wingers like Willian and Perisic who can cross to Lukaku. Not another slow number 10.

 

[Bojan11]

The problem is I don't think we have improved that much. And seriously improving from Moyes or LvG is not a huge achievement, I think there a ton of managers outthere who can do that, you don't need Jose for that. Have we really improved that much from last year? Are we playing better football or is it just more money spend and better individual quality. Fair play for Jose for getting us in the 2nd position so far, but we are shit, we don't look like the second best team in England at all and I think the results are catching up with our performances. In 9 out of 10 games we are shit these days and that shouldn't happen. We could have won against Leicester, but we could have also lost yesterday or dropped points against West Brom. All our latest games have been struggles against weak opposition which shows that we are just not good enough.

If you think Jose needs time to sort it out, it's your opiniin if course. But when did Jose improve a team in a 3rd season? When did Jose not have much of an impact at any if his teams? When did he bring up a team again after weak performances. I just don't think Jose has that in his locker and his latests comments are similiar to his fallout sessons at othet clubs. I hope I am wrong but I think it's going downhill from here and in a fre months we will be in a situation where it is much more difficult to defend Jose, so I just hope our club is prepared for that.

What are you going on about? We should have put 5 past Leicester. Burnley had two set pieces which they scored from, we battered them and should have won too. Your heros Klopp and Potchetinno couldn’t beat them at home too.

West Brom we ended up falling alsleep, but won. Your hero Klopp 3 days before that couldn’t beat them in his own ground.

Even City had a spell where they were grinding out results. Every team goes through that spell.

 

[Jaybomb]

The ramblings of a 10 year old.

Was Pep a 10 year old aswell then when he shipped out Hart, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Clichy, Sagna, Fernando, Nasri, Bony, Iheanacho, Navas and Nolito?

Deadwood gets you nowhere. We’re not ruthless enough.

 

[Kapardin]

Was Pep a 10 year old aswell then when he shipped out Hart, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Clichy, Sagna, Fernando, Nasri, Bony, Iheanacho, Navas and Nolito?

Deadwood gets you nowhere. We’re not ruthless enough.

Yes, but bringing Chicha back is the solution?

 

[Bojan11]

Was Pep a 10 year old aswell then when he shipped out Hart, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Clichy, Sagna, Fernando, Nasri, Bony, Iheanacho, Navas and Nolito?

Deadwood gets you nowhere. We’re not ruthless enough.

Yes because Pep signed Chicharito, Luiz and William.

Pep signed world class fullbacks entering their prime.

 

[Kostov]

When I look at the whole picture, we have a manager who has won multiple titles and 2 CL, a proven winner. And a squad with a lot of average players who haven't proven anything yet. I know who I rate more and rather stick around. Jose Mourinho is our best option, I'm not happy with all of his decisions and everything he does, but I have trust in him that he knows what he is doing.

 

[Jaybomb]

Yes, but bringing Chicha back is the solution?

Ibra will be leaving and Mourinho has complimented Chicharito’s goal scoring abilities in the past.

If he’s happy with the role he had before, I would be more than happy to have him back as an option. He loves United.

 

[Jaybomb]

Yes because Pep signed Chicharito, Luiz and William.

Pep signed world class fullbacks entering their prime.

Which is why I said we should sign Alex Sandro.

 

[Pyroblazer]

What are you going on about? We should have put 5 past Leicester. Burnley had two set pieces which they scored from, we battered them and should have won too. Your heros Klopp and Potchetinno couldn’t beat them at home too.

West Brom we ended up falling alsleep, but won. Your hero Klopp 3 days before that couldn’t beat them in his own ground.

Your hero Klopp? Are you a 12-year old kid?
I don't even want Klopp here, his defence is a disaster and I don't know what Liverpool's performance have to do with ours? Liverpool don't have the squad, the appeal or the money to compete with us, they still finished above us last year and are not that far away this year, if you are happy with that amazing achievement, then ok. I didn't mention Klopp or Liverpool a single time in my post, but you can't deny that we have been shit lately, so no we don't deserve anything with performances like that. Conceding from set pieces is also a weak excuse, if you watched our latest games you will see that we conceding from set pieces all the time now, so Jose should probably do sth about it.

 

[Bojan11]

Ibra will be leaving and Mourinho has complimented Chicharito’s goal scoring abilities in the past.

If he’s happy with the role he had before, I would be more than happy to have him back as an option. He loves United.

You mean the role he was crying about on Twitter and acted like a bitch as soon as Fergie left. Nah, not good enough for West Ham yet somehow good to sit on our bench. Really?

 

[OneUnited24]

The problem is I don't think we have improved that much.

See this alone is the problem with most United fans. They don't think theres any improvement. For most its "if we arent winning titles how is that improvement".

Anyone who doesnt see the leaps and bounds in our style of play since the LvG era is rewriting history.

 

[Jaybomb]

You mean the role he was crying about on Twitter and acted like a bitch as soon as Fergie left. Nah, not good enough for West Ham yet somehow good to sit on our bench. Really?

He had a right to fecking cry about it. Moyes never played him and LVG sold him for missing a penalty and that was after telling him “You have a 1% chance of playing cause Rooney is #1”.... a guy who couldn’t score a goal for months during that 15/16 period.

Plenty of top clubs sign players that aren’t doing too well at other clubs. Drinkwater comes to mind. United need someone with his qualities more than West Ham do.

 

[Canagel]

The only team that sacked Jose, twice, was Chelsea. At least get your facts straight before you blabber any nonsense.

Actually he wasn't sacked the first time. He resigned I think.

 

[Chaky_Best]

No he is not

I can mention 10 better managers that him

 

[Bojan11]

Your hero Klopp? Are you a 12-year old kid?
I don't even want Klopp here, his defence is a disaster and I don't know what Liverpool's performance have to do with ours? Liverpool don't have the squad, the appeal or the money to compete with us, they still finished above us last year and are not that far away this year, if you are happy with that amazing achievement, then ok. I didn't mention Klopp or Liverpool a single time in my post, but you can't deny that we have been shit lately, so no we don't deserve anything with performances like that. Conceding from set pieces is also a weak excuse, if you watched our latest games you will see that we conceding from set pieces all the time now, so Jose should probably do sth about it.

The second set piece was unstoppable.

Also Man City beat West Brom 2-1 away from home too and that was when they had Pulis. It was always going to be a difficult game with a new manager especially after them picking up a point at Anfield

We haven’t improved enough? You do realise it will take time. A game like yesterday we probably would have ended up losing 2-0 down at Old Trafford under Moyes or LVG. We scored the second most goals with the worst attack out of the top six. Defending has been sloppy in the past month, but that’s Jose rushing back Rojo rather than playing Lindelof. It also doesn’t help we have to chop and change due to injuries.

I think someone is just spoilt. In a normal season we wouldn’t be that far off the top. It’s hard to compete when a team has won 17/18 games. We are still work in progress. Players like Rashford and Martial are giving performances that are work in progress. The issue is Jose didn’t sign any wingers to cover for them.

 

[Pyroblazer]

See this alone is the problem with most United fans. They don't think theres any improvement. For most its "if we arent winning titles how is that improvement".

Anyone who doesnt see the leaps and bounds in our style of play since the LvG era is rewriting history.

I am talking Jose year 1 to Jose year 2. Sorry but improving from Moyes and LvG isn't a huge feat for me. I would turn it around and say people are lowering their expectations too much because of them. We had a 1/10 with Moyes, a 3/10 with LvG, then we signing a potential 9 or 10 with Jose, but he is only delivering a 5 out of 10 and people here are impressed because it's better than the shit we had before. The problem is not only is Pep a 10 but also Jose not delivering anything close to what we expected from him at the beginning. For better than Moyes and LvG we could have hired any young talented and cheaper manager without the flaws Mouriho has, that's not really an huge achievement for me and let's face it our football is still absymal and similiar to LvG once the results are gone everything will fall apart because there us not much more positive left.

 

[Clique]

He will need to get rid of

Smalling
Jones
Young
Mkhitaryan
Herrera
Martial
Shaw
Ibra
Carrick
Darmian


He will need to get rid of all these and replace them with better players who play the Mourinho way. He can’t work miracles and he shouldn’t be settling for players he knows won’t work in his system. Martial and Mkhitaryan are talented players but they’re not MOURINHO players. They don’t suit United’s traditional way of playing and it’s obvious when watching them play for us. Some people don’t want to hear it but it’s the truth.

I would ship them all off in January and the summer and then go on a City-like spending spree. If you want to compete with that squad and their depth, it has to be done.

Bring in:

Alex Sandro to replace Young
David Luiz to replace Smalling
Perisic or Willian to replace Mkhitaryan
Griezmann to replace Martial
Chicharito to replace Ibra

Recall Fosu Mensah and Pereira to replace Jones and Carrick.

We would be better for it in my book. All of these players strike me as Mourinho “fighters” and players who would fit Man Utd more than the dross I’ve mentioned. It will be a lot of money but we know they’re ALL available and top quality winners so we can’t sleep on it and persist with the same average players next season. It simply won’t work. Pep knew it and Jose has to aswell.

Replying to this and to a couple of other points you made later on.

Is there a philosophy that you'd preach along with this mass clearout that you suggest. See the thing with Pep is that he buys players who fit into his philosophy, Mourinho doesn't have one. So when you say Martial and Mkhitaryan aren't Mourinho players, I'm not really sure what you mean. Mourinho players are generally ones who give their all for him, are you saying Martial doesn't give his all during the game? If so, how and why? Resilience to fight back and win over the manager is a big mental fortitude proving point, honestly.

You seem to be going for the "in" names in the market right now, but Greizzman would have a concern playing support striker in our current formation since Lukaku doesn't play the convential hold-up, lead the line striker that Greizmann thrives out of.

Like I said in another thread, replacing our wingers isn't going to help. We don't have players who're good headers of the ball or rather they're looking at it in our shirts. We had some mighty fine crosses yesterday from Young on the right and some hit and miss from Shaw/ Rashford on the left. But not a single ball was attacked with the same verve that a RVP or a Ronaldo did.

If so then what's the basis of your "deadwood" clearout?

 

[Hawks2008]

What would Özil improve? We have a similar player in Mata. We need old fashioned fast wingers like Willian and Perisic who can cross to Lukaku. Not another slow number 10.

Old Fashioned wingers are old fashioned for a reason. Football has evolved and the role of a traditional winger (provide width, cross the ball) is basically the job of a fullback now. It's the case for most top sides now, the forwards play more narrow and the fullback overlaps, creates overloads on the wings, can get the final ball in. Having wingers who were touchline huggers would be redundant if we signed top fullbacks who could do those things. Also, if crossing to Lukaku is going to be a main avenue of attack then we will become very easy to defend.

 

[Jaybomb]

Replying to this and to a couple of other points you made later on.

Is there a philosophy that you'd preach along with this mass clearout that you suggest. See the thing with Pep is that he buys players who fit into his philosophy, Mourinho doesn't have one. So when you say Martial and Mkhitaryan aren't Mourinho players, I'm not really sure what you mean. Mourinho players are generally ones who give their all for him, are you saying Martial doesn't give his all during the game? If so, how and why? Resilience to fight back and win over the manager is a big mental fortitude proving point, honestly.

You seem to be going for the "in" names in the market right now, but Greizzman would have a concern playing support striker in our current formation since Lukaku doesn't play the convential hold-up, lead the line striker that Greizmann thrives out of.

Like I said in another thread, replacing our wingers isn't going to help. We don't have players who're good headers of the ball or rather they're looking at it in our shirts. We had some mighty fine crosses yesterday from Young on the right and some hit and miss from Shaw/ Rashford on the left. But not a single ball was attacked with the same verve that a RVP or a Ronaldo did.

If so then what's the basis of your "deadwood" clearout?

Martial slows down our attack by constantly requiring the ball at his feet. He loses possession and never makes an attempt to win it back. He’s often found sulking on the pitch which is just frustrating to watch. He never runs in behind and on top of all that, he is not a winger. And neither is Rashford. To have both of these strikers on the wing, it’s no wonder that our only real attacking threat comes from an Ashley Young cross. A guy who is well past it and playing left back.

People blame Lukaku but it’s not his fault. He needs service and he won’t get it playing with the likes of Rashford and Martial on the wings. He won’t get it playing with a slow Zlatan behind him or a slow Mata on the wing. We’re too slow period. Willian and Perisic would fix this.

 

[Jaybomb]

Old Fashioned wingers are old fashioned for a reason. Football has evolved and the role of a traditional winger (provide width, cross the ball) is basically the job of a fullback now. It's the case for most top sides now, the forwards play more narrow and the fullback overlaps, creates overloads on the wings, can get the final ball in. Having wingers who were touchline huggers would be redundant if we signed top fullbacks who could do those things. Also, if crossing to Lukaku is going to be a main avenue of attack then we will become very easy to defend.

Leicester won the league with a 442. We won 13 of them playing with 2 strikers up top and 2 traditional wingers. So why the sudden desire to sign these “number 10s” and “false wingers”? All those trophies were won with TWO strikers up top (Cantona/McClair, Cole/Yorke, Rooney/Tevez, Rooney/Berbatov, Rooney/RVP) and TWO wingers (Kanchelskis/Giggs, Giggs/Beckham, Ronaldo/Giggs, Nani/Valencia)

Now we have two strikers on the wing and people wonder why we’re shit. It’s obvious from where I’m standing. There’s no threat from the wide areas.

 

[Pyroblazer]

The second set piece was unstoppable.

Also Man City beat West Brom 2-1 away from home too and that was when they had Pulis. It was always going to be a difficult game with a new manager especially after them picking up a point at Anfield

We haven’t improved enough? You do realise it will take time. A game like yesterday we probably would have ended up losing 2-0 down at Old Trafford under Moyes or LVG. We scored the second most goals with the worst attack out of the top six. Defending has been sloppy in the past month, but that’s Jose rushing back Rojo rather than playing Lindelof. It also doesn’t help we have to chop and change due to injuries.

I think someone is just spoilt. In a normal season we wouldn’t be that far off the top. It’s hard to compete when a team has won 17/18 games. We are still work in progress. Players like Rashford and Martial are giving performances that are work in progress. The issue is Jose didn’t sign any wingers to cover for them.

Again I don't really care about single games. City, Spurs or Pool also blow teams out of the water and reach a peak which we haven't reached all season. It wasn't one shit game in our cases, we play underwhelming all the time and a convincing 4-1 win is the exception with 9 other shit wins around them. It's also sad how we win these games. It's not about only winning 2-1 against West Brom like City did, it's the matter how which shows the gap in quality. City struggled and it wasn't their best day but they still were comfortable better than them and the win was in no danger, we parked the bus and hanged on to keep the 2-1, it was an awful performance.

We have scored the third most goals now and no I don't think we have the worst attack at all, it's just the worst managed attack. And of course it's taking time, the problem is you usually see the manager's peak now especially if it is someone like Jose and our season instead is getting worse. Let's face it, our good start is keeping us in 2nd and in the last few weeks we aren't performing like the second best team in the league and it won't stay like it. Mourinho never needed much time in his career, why now? Is it more than blind hope that he will sort it out in 3, 4 years now.

And people need to stop with that we would be top ir near the top. We expected a title challenge at the beginning of the season and 43 points out of 20 games isn't really amazing. We nearly lost our 4th game yesterday halfway in. I would be more optimistic if we had a slow start and now winning every week, but it looks rather the other way. Right now I predict us to get a bit above 80 points, even if we ignore City, that's not really a title challenge or sth that would win us any other league, we would be 10 points off everywhere. Forget City, Chelsea got 93 points last year, we are far off from that.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Yes, it is obvious a budget exists. No denying that.

But I also believe Jose has gone soft. Remember when he joined, he leaked an article to Sky through Andy Burton claiming he wouldn't purchase a proper striker in his prime, but would get Zlatan so that Rashford can "develop". Would the old Jose care about such things?

His sacking at Chelsea made him sore about the criticism over his player management. He was also pressured by the media and even United fans/legends on the youth policy. He was way too eager to please everyone, most unlike him, and this is the result.

Hopefully, he sees the error of his ways. We need the old Jose back.

The one who doesn't develop Martial and Rashford? I don't rather keep the current version.

And he did end up signing Lukaku. That 'leak' was either nonsense or just some PR.

 

[Bojan11]

Again I don't really care about single games. City, Spurs or Pool also blow teams out of the water and reach a peak which we haven't reached all season. It wasn't one shit game in our cases, we play underwhelming all the time and a convincing 4-1 win is the exception with 9 other shit wins around them. It's also sad how we win these games. It's not about only winning 2-1 against West Brom like City did, it's the matter how which shows the gap in quality. City struggled and it wasn't their best day but they still were comfortable better than them and the win was in no danger, we parked the bus and hanged on to keep the 2-1, it was an awful performance.

We have scored the third most goals now and no I don't think we have the worst attack at all, it's just the worst managed attack. And of course it's taking time, the problem is you usually see the manager's peak now especially if it is someone like Jose and our season instead is getting worse. Let's face it, our good start is keeping us in 2nd and in the last few weeks we aren't performing like the second best team in the league and it won't stay like it. Mourinho never needed much time in his career, why now? Is it more than blind hope that he will sort it out in 3, 4 years now.

And people need to stop with that we would be top ir near the top. We expected a title challenge at the beginning of the season and 43 points out of 20 games isn't really amazing. We nearly lost our 4th game yesterday halfway in. I would be more optimistic if we had a slow start and now winning every week, but it looks rather the other way. Right now I predict us to get a bit above 80 points, even if we ignore City, that's not really a title challenge or sth that would win us any other league, we would be 10 points off everywhere. Forget City, Chelsea got 93 points last year, we are far off from that.

We parked the bus? What the feck were you watching? We were in complete control of that game and then they got a lucky goal, which we panicked after.

You are just acting spoilt. No manager in the world besides Pep himself would compete against a team that has won 17 out of their 18 games ffs. SAF never came across someone like that. The closest he did was Jose and it took him two years to beat Jose. Our squad is still in a rebuilding stage. So we haven’t been performing for a week that means Jose out right? In total we lost one game and that was in the league cup. The other two we dominated enough to win the games two times over. Did Liverpool fans want Klopp out when he couldn’t beat Everton or WBA at home a few weeks ago? What about Chelsea and Conte when he couldn’t beat Everton or West Ham? Or how about Spurs with Potch when they went on a run without winning for four games?

If you couldn’t see that we deserved to win the last two games then maybe you need to wear some glasses.

 

[2ndTouch]

The problem is I don't think we have improved that much. And seriously improving from Moyes or LvG is not a huge achievement, I think there a ton of managers outthere who can do that, you don't need Jose for that. Have we really improved that much from last year? Are we playing better football or is it just more money spend and better individual quality. Fair play for Jose for getting us in the 2nd position so far, but we are shit, we don't look like the second best team in England at all and I think the results are catching up with our performances. In 9 out of 10 games we are shit these days and that shouldn't happen. We could have won against Leicester, but we could have also lost yesterday or dropped points against West Brom. All our latest games have been struggles against weak opposition which shows that we are just not good enough. Our season got worse which doesn't speak for his management, but a few players here and there will make us competitive?

It might be so because you don't have the second best squad in terms of players to begin with. Given the current material, JM is squeezing out of the squad what's possible. I'm far, far away from being a fan of Jose and his brand of football, but I'd say so far he's been delivering the goods.
Anyone expecting more (in terms of points) is deluded in my eyes. If you were expecting spectacular football, then you've been on the wrong train from the very start. JM is all about having an organized defence(he fully delivered here), and then relying on his offense to show flashes of individual brilliance to bag the results. When there isn't enough potential for brilliance, defensive structure alone is sometimes not enough, as evidenced yesterday.
So yeah, I think JM is right. If you want to take the next step, some serious infusion of quality going forward is a must. A decent poacher and two promising youngsters who still have their fair share of off-days upfront just isn't going to cut it.

 

[Bojan11]

The one who doesn't develop Martial and Rashford? I don't rather keep the current version.

And he did end up signing Lukaku. That 'leak' was either nonsense or just some PR.

What do you mean he doesn’t develop?

Rashford starts or has been involved in every single match. He’s one of the few players that needs to be dropped. He’s being overplayed.

Martial has been hot and cold. We always knew last season it would be tough as it notoriously is for players in their second seasons. Martial has been fine this season. Then funny enough you forget about Lingard.

 

[Pyroblazer]

We parked the bus? What the feck were you watching? We were in complete control of that game and then they got a lucky goal, which we panicked after.

You are just acting spoilt. No manager in the world besides Pep himself would compete against a team that has won 17 out of their 18 games ffs. SAF never came across someone like that. The closest he did was Jose and it took him two years to beat Jose. Our squad is still in a rebuilding stage. So we haven’t been performing for a week that means Jose out right? In total we lost one game and that was in the league cup. The other two we dominated enough to win the games two times over. Did Liverpool fans want Klopp out when he couldn’t beat Everton or WBA at home a few weeks ago? What about Chelsea and Conte when he couldn’t beat Everton or West Ham? Or how about Spurs with Potch when they went on a run without winning for four games?

If you couldn’t see that we deserved to win the last two games then maybe you need to wear some glasses.

Sorry but I give up, pointless to discuss with you because you are just saying the same again and not answering my questions or look at what I said. I already said forget City's winning record and compared the numbers with Chelsea and other leaders in Europe's top leagues and you still bring City up. I said forget Klopp or Pool for several reason and here we go again and you call me spoilt, pointless to go any deeper into that.

 

[Hawks2008]

Leicester won the league with a 442.

Leicester is an anomaly, they are the exception to the rule rather than proof of it.

We won 13 of them playing with 2 strikers up top and 2 traditional wingers. So why the sudden desire to sign these “number 10s” and “false wingers”? All those trophies were won with TWO strikers up top (Cantona/McClair, Cole/Yorke, Rooney/Tevez, Rooney/Berbatov, Rooney/RVP) and TWO wingers (Kanchelskis/Giggs, Giggs/Beckham, Ronaldo/Giggs, Nani/Valencia)

We did, but as I said football has evolved. Who were the ones providing width for the likes of Bayern, Barca, and Madrid for the past few years? Fullbacks like Dani Alves, Marcelo, David Alaba, Jordi Alba. And who were they playing on the wings, wide forwards like Robben, Ribery, Ronaldo, Bale, Messi, Neymar who were supported by the fulbacks I named earlier. Robben and Ribery were devastating at their peak and not because they got to the byline and swung in crosses. Anything a traditional winger can do a modern fullback can, and they can do that while we still have the benefits that inside forwards or "false wingers" as you put it.

Now we have two strikers on the wing and people wonder why we’re shit. It’s obvious from where I’m standing. There’s no threat from the wide areas.

Our wide areas are weak I agree, but not because we don't have wingers in the mould of Giggs, Kanchelskis,Beckham etc. We're weak in the wide areas because our fullbacks offer very little going forward. Valencia is great at maintaining width but the minute he runs into a defender he passes backwards or drills it into his shin, and his crossing is terrible at best. As for LB, we haven't had a meaningful contribution from that position in years and none of the players already at the club can do that for us. City went out and spent top dollar for fullbacks and now they reap the benefits, we must do the same. If we go and get Alex Sandro and Thomas Meunier it would transform this side. If they are playing for us they will be overlapping, putting in croses, making width the same as any traditional winger could while also supporting our forwards who like to come inside. Do you not think the likes of Rashford, Martial, Mata, and co. would thrive with the space and passing lanes and provided by the fullback? We need more quality in the wide attacking positions no doubt, but not knock and rush crossers. This is going to be my last post on this as I don't want to derail the thread further.