New signing you thought would turn out better

[manunited1919]

LVG is my number one choice, I thought he was going to restore our great play, but instead chopped up our team and brought many of the supposedly great signings such as DiMaria, Falcao, Schneiderlin, Schweini, Memphis. Maybe some of these players could have been great for us, but they were never settled or used properly.

Moyes wouldn't even be in my list, because I never rated him.

 

[manunited1919]

Kagawa was one I hoped would be huge. Particularly as we missed out on Hazard so all of us were looking for him to be that creative force we all thought he was going to be.

Kagawa was a great player, but was always forced to play out of position to suit Rooney. The few times he did play in the number 10, Rooney was striker.

 

[Hojoon]

Falcao is the standout recently. I didn't expect him to be the monster he was after the injury so quickly but I didn't expect him to fall over every time he touched the ball.

 

[fretless]

I'll go with Memphis. I thought he was going to be our dead ball specialist. After watching so many horrible spot kicks I thought with his reputation that our problems were going to be solved.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Most post Fergie signings.

 

[BluesJr]

Kagawa was a great player, but was always forced to play out of position to suit Rooney. The few times he did play in the number 10, Rooney was striker.

He really wasn't great for us though. Yes he showed it in flashes but a great player will show you his qualities regardless of position. It never felt like he wanted to step up, be the main man and take responsibility. Yes, he's probably never been that player but that's who we needed at the time.

 

[Mr Smith]

Di Maria comes to mind firstly, But right now I would say Martial. I was expecting more from him, last season, and hope he can produce it this season.

He has skill, and speed of feet, that he should be using more frequently, and needs to step up his game.

Good grief, behave. He's 21. And when he was signed barely anyone knew who he was.

 

[Peanut Butter]

I knew Schweinsteiger was a terrible idea. He was injury prone at Bayern and they never let their legends leave that easy unless they are finished at the top level.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Di Maria. I thought he ll light up the stage. I was in awe that we could prize him from Real.
He turned out to be lazy and combine it with crazy LvG ideas, it went all messy.

I had hopes for Memphis. And thought that he ll become good. But probably by end of season I realized he is more talk than work.

Falcao was one I was dead sure will flop. I was shocked we were paying so much wages for someone who was completely gone after the injury.

In other teams:
I thought Ozil will be awesome straight away at Arsenal. But thankfully he blows hot and cold a lot.
I thought City will do great when they got all those defenders for high prices. But thankfully everyone proved to be below average and City still has defensive issues
I thought Pedro will be breath taking at Chelsea. But though he is good, he is not really awesome.

 

[AngliaRed]

Barthez
Darmian Blanc Smalling Shaw
Schneiderlin Anderson Veron
Kagawa Depay
Falcao

tbh Kagawa was always on the left coz of Rooney so that didn't help but I don't think our style of football ever suited him, I reckon he would have been better at Arsenal.

Strongly agree with this.

 

[sincher]

Veron, Webb, Memphis Depay, Liam Miller (what? he looked really good for Celtic), Falcao

Some others have disappointed but not on the same scale. Kagawa and Di Maria both had some very good games for us, at least, despite being in my view badly used by the manager. (I suppose Veron did, too, but I thought signing him was huge at the time and it just didn't turn out that way and he could not claim to have been misdeployed or anything.) Nani was very good for us overall. Even Anderson was a decent squad player for a good period of time, just never made it big. Many others I expected to be a bit underwhelming.

 

[Ramshock]

Depay was a huge disappointment same for ADM

 

[rcoobc]

I got so much stick for saying Kagawa was a bit crap for us (whilst he was still here)

I maintain I was correct. He had some okay matches (and one hat-trick), but was played out of position, and found out often.

 

[a_devil_inside]

Liam Miller after all his recommendations.
Falcao I thought was a great deal, knew he had just come back from injury but didn't know he was that bad.
Schneiderlin could have been our answer to Carrick.
Memphis was meant to be the next big thing, but nowhere near. Anderson was all hype too.
Forlan I thought would get a lot better once he got a couple of goals, he did improve but not enough.
Also Nick Powell I thought we found a good young bargain

 

[17 Van der Gouw]

May
Poborsky
Taibi
Di Maria

 

[harms]

1. Schweiny — he was supposed to be that Scholes-esque (albeit a bit different in style) presence in the middle that would've lead our talented youth to the trophies
2. Di Maria — genuinely world-class and at the very peak of his powers. Well
3. Anderson — incredible to watch at his peak (and I'm talking about him eating)

 

[Lennon7]

Kagawa's the first that springs to mind.

 

[Champagne Football]

Berbatov - Was meant to be our Cantona.
Di Maria - Everyone thought we were getting the rolles royce between himself and Alexis. he was a massive turd
Veron - Was supposed to be the player that would make us dominate the CL every year...the opposite happened when he arrived
Fellaini - Some parts of the media felt he could be our new Keane with his excellent goal count and impressive performances for Everton

 

[El-Manos]

Schneiderlin
Di Maria
Kagawa

Expected them to be key players for years to come.

 

[antsmithmk]

Schneiderlin and Mhiki to a degree in latter years.

Falcao and Di Maria obviously.

Mhiki?!!!

 

[TwoSheds]

Liam Miller. Looked fire in that one CL game for Celtic. Turned out he was more of a broken radiator.

 

[The Purley King]

ADM even started out pretty well. Scored that blinder against Leicester and everyone thought he was going to boss it.
Poborsky I never had high hopes for. Played ok in the Euros, but people just remember that lob and then was generally pretty average when he got here too.

 

[Oo0AahCantona]

Kagawa was the one who i really thought was gunna shift our style of play.

 

[whatwha]

What about this Lukaku joker? Complete waste of 75m

 

[Oldyella]

He really wasn't great for us though. Yes he showed it in flashes but a great player will show you his qualities regardless of position. It never felt like he wanted to step up, be the main man and take responsibility. Yes, he's probably never been that player but that's who we needed at the time.

I think he would have been great in this team now, playing in the 3 behind a front man. Imagine the interplay between a Mata/Mhiki/Kagawa 3 with Lukaku stretching play..

 

[harms]

I actually feel like we could do with him right now because he's a natural winger

Is he though? His best attribute was always his shooting.

 

[#07]

There have a lot, listing them all would be a bit of a chore.

The biggest disappointments have come more recently though. It was irrelevant when Poborsky failed because Becks rose to the challenge and became amazing. Likewise Veron being a bit of a let down was fine cos we had Scholes and Keane.

The recent failures have really hurt us though, we haven't been able to just brush it off and go on winning. Memphis is probably the biggest one for me. We needed magic and he was bought to provide it. Never happened. Schneiderlin and Basti likewise. So much optimism evaporated so fast.

 

[SaboTaj]

I remember, all those years ago, being in my college hostel and telling my friends who supported other English clubs how this new midfielder United signed from Porto named Anderson was going to be the next big thing and tear apart the league.

 

[r3idy]

What about this Lukaku joker? Complete waste of 75m

Pogba is not much better

For me Depay. What an utter waste. Big price tag, supposedly big talent. Either the Dutch league is REALLY REALLY shit or he was over hyped and bang average. Like a lot of players of his generation, all the skill in the world but mixed attitude at best and poor application.

A lot of people cite Veron and that he should have done so much better. However if you do a bit of reading about the guy, he never really lit the world on fire over in Italy. His Attitude was always in question and he was another who had a few memorable games but for the most was pretty average. He always talked a good game but never really lived upto it. Pretty much sums up his time at OT really. Maybe Fergie was misadvised on this rather than Veron being a flop.

 

[BenjaminP]

Anderson
Nani
Obertan

 

[Stadjer]

Pogba is not much better

For me Depay. What an utter waste. Big price tag, supposedly big talent. Either the Dutch league is REALLY REALLY shit or he was over hyped and bang average. Like a lot of players of his generation, all the skill in the world but mixed attitude at best and poor application.

A lot of people cite Veron and that he should have done so much better. However if you do a bit of reading about the guy, he never really lit the world on fire over in Italy. His Attitude was always in question and he was another who had a few memorable games but for the most was pretty average. He always talked a good game but never really lived upto it. Pretty much sums up his time at OT really. Maybe Fergie was misadvised on this rather than Veron being a flop.

both

 

[whatwha]

I had very high hopes for Berbatov. He wasn't a complete failure but you can't say he was a big success either.

Never had much hope for the likes of Depay, Di Maria, Falcao.

 

[NinjaZombie]

OP nailed it. Schneiderlin. I thought he was the answer. Instead, guy didn't even have half the United career of Cleverley and Anderson.

 

[Dyslexic Untied]

Mhiki?!!!

Yes. Thought he would be more consistent considering his age and performances for Dortmund.

 

[manunited1919]

He really wasn't great for us though. Yes he showed it in flashes but a great player will show you his qualities regardless of position. It never felt like he wanted to step up, be the main man and take responsibility. Yes, he's probably never been that player but that's who we needed at the time.

I always thought both Moyes and LVG did not use him correctly, and were not able to motivate him. I am sure he would have been excellent for us had SAF stayed.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Mata. He's just never quite done it for me. Think he is a player that needs a team built around him but I don't think he is good enough to have a team built around him. Good player but really his impact on United should be far greater than it is.

 

[SteveW]

Schneiderlin - Thought he'd be excellent. Seemed ideal and had broken into the French team.

Falcao - Overlooked his injury problems

Berbatov - Think I just liked his style of play so much I'd basically convinced myself he'd be a huge success even though he wasn't quite right for us

Di Maria - Would have been good if he wasn't such a baby

Shaw - Who could have predicted he'd be injured all the time?

Jones - Same

Smalling - Same

Kleberson - Expected the world cup winning dynamo, turned out to be soft as feck

Kagawa - Convinced myself he was a better player than he actually was

Howard - Seemed to have all the attributes

 

[kthanksbye]

Mata. He's just never quite done it for me. Think he is a player that needs a team built around him but I don't think he is good enough to have a team built around him. Good player but really his impact on United should be far greater than it is.

Came here to name him, wasn't quite sure how to word it. Your post echos my thoughts exactly.

 

[TwoSheds]

May
Poborsky
Taibi
Di Maria

Poborsky is a good shout. That goal in Euro 96

 

[Canagel]

Is he though? His best attribute was always his shooting.

His best performances for United and the Dutch team came from the left wing position and although he isn't very quick he has good skill and only cuts inside to cross or shoot. In that way you'll often find him one on one with the opposition RB. He's different to the players we have because he actually stays on the wings but I also feel that the lack of an attacking LB behind him jeopardised him a lot.