No chance of top 4 after incompetently handled transfer window ft 1000000% more tears and drama

Eric's Seagull

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Not replacing the players that left is the big mistake.

However, whether thats down to Ole not wanting anyone or the board not wanting to spend the money, is something we will never know.
Fully agree with you on the part on bold and I think that is the main reason what has got us where we are now :mad:
 

R'hllor

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Love when some call others moaners and negative Nancy or what ever.
 

Yagami

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Wow...it's like you're happy to be so far proven right, digging up posts from preseason. Pathetic...
How about - in future - don't be so condescending to those who express legitimate concerns. It's nothing to do with being happy about our current predicament at all.
 

red woppit

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Not replacing the players that left is the big mistake.

However, whether thats down to Ole not wanting anyone or the board not wanting to spend the money, is something we will never know.
Ole wouldn't have NOT replaced the likes of Fellaini and Herrera in midfield and Lukaku up front, and I'm sure he would have given Ed a list of players he wanted, but possibly Ole had to get rid of several players first before Ed would agree to buying. Obviously I don't know, but that scenario I certainly could believe.
 

Fahad Jawaid

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Regardless of how bad people thought Sanchez was he was still alot better than Perriera.

Furthermore Lukaku was a goal scorer, who knew how to position himself and that is something you either have or you dont and Rashford does not have that.

Herrera was our midfield bond which tied the midfield together he was soo soo much better than Mctominay and Fred its not even funny.

I didnt think i would ever say this but even Fellani was more valuable to us and gave us more goals than Lingard and Mata combined this season and above all he was a nuisance to play against, and not a pussy who backs out of challenges (Mata).

We know need atleast 6 first team players. Above all we need bodies. We must ensure we are clever in our business. Look for players with 6 months or 1 year contracts remaining like Mertens and Cavani. Furthermore, look for free agents and others with low release clauses like Ziyach.

We can't afford another summer with 3 signings. We badly need a striker and a number 10 or right winger in january window. Furtermore, we can also sign two Cm's and another striker and winger in the summer.
 

Sandikan

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The lowest quality battle for top 4 of all time, and we're a million miles off.

You couldn't make this up
 

Casanova85

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We are 12th! What's even more scary is the fact that most of those 13th-20th clubs look better than us (Brighton, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Sheffield, Everton, etc) or at least will deal better with their (yearly) battle to avoid relegation.

We are like a scared millionare businessman trying to do business-deals in the seediest streets and we will get our ass dumped and destroyed. Man Utd is not made for relegation.
 

SadlerMUFC

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How about - in future - don't be so condescending to those who express legitimate concerns. It's nothing to do with being happy about our current predicament at all.
THere's a huge difference between expressing concerns and being a whiny prat. I like the ideas behind what Ole is trying to achieve. I don't like how it's been executed. But going into the season there were no signs that this is how bad it would be so I was trying to be positive among all the doom and gloom...
 

Josep Dowling

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It’s amazing how many people shot down the OP for being over dramatic.

Anyone that looked at our squad rationally knew this would happen. This is our best front 6.

Midfield:

Pogba: Wants to leave.

McTominay: Still a kid, one full season under his belt.

Mata?: the fact I have to put a question mark next to him says it all.

Front 3:

Rashford: has never been consistent, still very young, injury prone.

Martial: has never been consistent, injury prone.

James: playing on the wrong wing, was a Championship player last season. How can he be expected to start up that quickly?
 

Irrational.

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Noticed how ever since we lost Herrera on a free and failed to replace him we've been losing every midfield battle?

How since losing two experienced attackers in Sanchez and Lukaku we're struggling to score?

How despite the big gaping hole on our right wing we persisted with Mata and Lingard and we can't create any chances?

From start to finish recruitment has been abysmal yet we've been delusional about the squad. We thought it'd be good enough but now reality has hit home and we'll have to put up with relegation-standard performances until January, where we'll struggle to recruit anyway.
 

Will Singh

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Not replacing the players that left is the big mistake.

However, whether thats down to Ole not wanting anyone or the board not wanting to spend the money, is something we will never know.
I think it's blatantly obvious, Ole is a 'Yes Sir' so it's perfect for The Glazers and Woody to have him on board as he does as he's told and has a face the public will believe.
 

Bulldog United

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Regardless of how bad people thought Sanchez was he was still alot better than Perriera.

Furthermore Lukaku was a goal scorer, who knew how to position himself and that is something you either have or you dont and Rashford does not have that.

Herrera was our midfield bond which tied the midfield together he was soo soo much better than Mctominay and Fred its not even funny.

I didnt think i would ever say this but even Fellani was more valuable to us and gave us more goals than Lingard and Mata combined this season and above all he was a nuisance to play against, and not a pussy who backs out of challenges (Mata).

We know need atleast 6 first team players. Above all we need bodies. We must ensure we are clever in our business. Look for players with 6 months or 1 year contracts remaining like Mertens and Cavani. Furthermore, look for free agents and others with low release clauses like Ziyach.

We can't afford another summer with 3 signings. We badly need a striker and a number 10 or right winger in january window. Furtermore, we can also sign two Cm's and another striker and winger in the summer.
Rashford consistently takes up positions that would support a number 10. He says he wants to play the centre forward role, but he doesn't think like it or play like it. He's almost never there. The game yesterday illustrated it perfectly when he sandwiched himself between two defenders, and didn't even attempt to give in front of the first defender to get a shot on goal. He was in a position to support a rebound, or pass, but because he was playing as the forward, there was nobody there to get the initial shot away or try to find a pass to him.

Lukaku often fluffed his lines, or lost control of the ball, but at least he would consistently take up positions that gave him a chance to score for us.

There's no doubt we need to sign an out and out goalscorer the moment the January window opens. We also need more experienced players in there. Trying to slowly build our team out over another 4 or 5 transfer windows is not good enough. I don't expect us to blow half a billion pounds in one window, but we can certainly sign a few more quality players next summer, and sprinkle in some smart cheaper deals along the lines you outline asap. We only need to take a look at what Bayern does for some ideas for inspiration.
 

Sky1981

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Rashford consistently takes up positions that would support a number 10. He says he wants to play the centre forward role, but he doesn't think like it or play like it. He's almost never there. The game yesterday illustrated it perfectly when he sandwiched himself between two defenders, and didn't even attempt to give in front of the first defender to get a shot on goal. He was in a position to support a rebound, or pass, but because he was playing as the forward, there was nobody there to get the initial shot away or try to find a pass to him.

Lukaku often fluffed his lines, or lost control of the ball, but at least he would consistently take up positions that gave him a chance to score for us.

There's no doubt we need to sign an out and out goalscorer the moment the January window opens. We also need more experienced players in there. Trying to slowly build our team out over another 4 or 5 transfer windows is not good enough. I don't expect us to blow half a billion pounds in one window, but we can certainly sign a few more quality players next summer, and sprinkle in some smart cheaper deals along the lines you outline asap. We only need to take a look at what Bayern does for some ideas for inspiration.
No quality players wanna come to work under Ole in a relegation dogfight
 

Bulldog United

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No quality players wanna come to work under Ole in a relegation dogfight
I'm sure that's not completely true. We know Dybala said no, but he wanted to stay at Juventus and had little interest in the Premier League (he also avoided going to Spurs too who even have a popular Argie coach to entice him). There are many others who would take a chance on us, even if they initially saw it as a stepping stone. Playing for United gets you a lot of worldwide exposure.
 

Yagami

Good post resistant
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THere's a huge difference between expressing concerns and being a whiny prat. I like the ideas behind what Ole is trying to achieve. I don't like how it's been executed. But going into the season there were no signs that this is how bad it would be so I was trying to be positive among all the doom and gloom...
Hey, I've got nothing against you trying to be positive, man! It's nice to see. I'm just not a fan of people labelling those who express legitimate concerns as moaners for the sake of moaning is all.

Looking back, I think I came across as a bit of a jerk so sorry about that!
 

Irwin99

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Nothing wrong with being positive at all but just as much as you can be silly with negative comments like the old 'Sack Fergie, sell Giggs' you can get carried away with overly praising things that just don't stand up to close scrutiny. The entire plan this season seemed to be based on only the most optimistic of outlooks that we'd blast teams on the counter attack, that Rasford and Martial would be prolific in front of goal, that the kids would come in and exude confidence and be the next Busby Babes or CO92, that Pogba would take to the deep playmaker role 'Like he does for France', that Lingard or Mata would suddenly start to play well again and actually, you know, create chances in the 10 role, and that we'd get by fine without a right winger for yet another season. I genuinely believe no one at the club had any thought as to what might happen if those things didn't materialise.

I predicted it'd be a tough season but i got swept up in the whole 'c'mon be positve' wave and I said we'd finish in 4th place. I can see now I should have stuck by my realistic evaluation that this squad is nowhere near good enough and that the pressure on the young players to replace the players we've lost is both ridiculous and unfair.
 

youmeletsfly

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We need 2 points per game to make top4. That is not possible with Ole ans these players, not in a million years.
 

thomas porter

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I was very fearful of an injury crisis devastating us if/when it happened but didn't expect it this soon in the season. My thoughts below:

-Everyone knew after the end of last season the squad needed major improvements and it would take multiple windows to rebuild.
-With that said, the immediate priorities had to be a: CB, RB, Holding Mid, Box to Box midfielder (Herrera replacement), Center Forward (Luaku replacement, and 2 wingers, preferable one dedicated right winger.
-We needed 7 signings at a minimum and got 3.
-The same failed leadership team that has failed us since Fergie left is still in place.
-There is no manager in the league who would succeed with this squad right now. The commentators yesterday, in the U.S, before the Newcastle goal mentioned that they had the better bench options and they did. Christian Atsu and Andy Carroll are better options than Mason Greenwood and Tahith Chong.

The only way out for us is major structural changes in who makes footballing decisions at the club, and making at least 2 signings in January to turn around the mood of the club and ensure we finish in the top half. Its not hyperbole to say we are at risk of a relegation battle given our injury crisis and poor form especially on the road. I believe I saw a stat that since the PSG win in March we've been one of the bottom 5 teams in the league. Match going fans need to make their voices heard for changes at the top...
 

red woppit

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I was very fearful of an injury crisis devastating us if/when it happened but didn't expect it this soon in the season. My thoughts below:

-Everyone knew after the end of last season the squad needed major improvements and it would take multiple windows to rebuild.
-With that said, the immediate priorities had to be a: CB, RB, Holding Mid, Box to Box midfielder (Herrera replacement), Center Forward (Luaku replacement, and 2 wingers, preferable one dedicated right winger.
-We needed 7 signings at a minimum and got 3.
-The same failed leadership team that has failed us since Fergie left is still in place.
-There is no manager in the league who would succeed with this squad right now. The commentators yesterday, in the U.S, before the Newcastle goal mentioned that they had the better bench options and they did. Christian Atsu and Andy Carroll are better options than Mason Greenwood and Tahith Chong.

The only way out for us is major structural changes in who makes footballing decisions at the club, and making at least 2 signings in January to turn around the mood of the club and ensure we finish in the top half. Its not hyperbole to say we are at risk of a relegation battle given our injury crisis and poor form especially on the road. I believe I saw a stat that since the PSG win in March we've been one of the bottom 5 teams in the league. Match going fans need to make their voices heard for changes at the top...
Totally agree, minimum players required I thought was six, CB, RB, 2xCM, CF and RW or a wide right sided midfielder (like Brooks of Bournemouth). I cannot believe that Ole would not have wanted those positions filled, and I'm sure he would have given a list to Ed to sort out, but Ed, as we all know, seems to take weeks or even months to sort out a transfer, so we only got two of the signings required, (James I thought is one for the future, and I still believe that).
 

MikeUpNorth

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Unfortunately, we had completely the wrong priorities. We had a squad stocked with a ludicrous amount of central defenders (6!) and forwards who like to play off the left (3!)... and yet we somehow managed to add one more of each.

If we were only able to add 3 players, then it should have been a striker, right-back and central midfielder. Only AWB made sense as a signing.

We would be no lower in the table if Smalling was still playing instead of Maguire, for instance.
 
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red woppit

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Unfortunately, we had completely the wrong priorities. We had a squad stocked with a ludicrous amount of central defenders (6!) and forwards who like to play off the left (3!)... and we somehow managed to add one more of each.

If we were only able to add 3 players, then it should have been a striker, right-back and central midfielder. Only AWB made sense as a signing.

We would be no lower in the table if Smalling was still playing instead of Maguire, for instance.
Bold statement regarding Smalling. But the fact is that Ed and his 'team' should have brought in more players, and with our current injury crisis, the cupboard is bare. Two CM's and a striker in January?
 

MikeUpNorth

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Bold statement regarding Smalling. But the fact is that Ed and his 'team' should have brought in more players, and with our current injury crisis, the cupboard is bare. Two CM's and a striker in January?
Not sure we have the money for that, but it depends on the players we target I guess. We have a transfer budget of around £100-120m (net) per year.
 

youmeletsfly

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Not sure we have the money for that, but it depends on the players we target I guess. We have a transfer budget of around £100-120m (net) per year.
I'm making the assumption that Paul will leave in the summer and I think it's the best decision for both parties. We need money to invest, he needs a team to win. Even if I like the guy there's only one way this plays out.
If we know we're getting 100+mil for him we can easily invest 150-200 in the winter.
 

Ranchero

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We are 12th! What's even more scary is the fact that most of those 13th-20th clubs look better than us (Brighton, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Sheffield, Everton, etc) or at least will deal better with their (yearly) battle to avoid relegation.

We are like a scared millionare businessman trying to do business-deals in the seediest streets and we will get our ass dumped and destroyed. Man Utd is not made for relegation.
Two points away from the RELEGATION spots with Prem title throne pretenders and European champions next.

In the last 15 games we have managed a meagre 14 points with only Southampton (13), Brighton (12) and Watford (10) with fewer points out of the 14 clubs who have been in the Prem thoughout that period.
 

red woppit

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Not sure we have the money for that, but it depends on the players we target I guess. We have a transfer budget of around £100-120m (net) per year.
Yep, that is a distinct possibility, that we need to ship out before adding to the squad, but I still think we need two midfield players and a striker, and they all could be short term fixes, say 18 months, just to get a stability into the team. I advocated Arnoutevic last season as a short term striker option, (2 year contract) but was shot down in flames, but I see he is still scoring goals for Shanghai.
 

Ranchero

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I'm making the assumption that Paul will leave in the summer and I think it's the best decision for both parties. We need money to invest, he needs a team to win. Even if I like the guy there's only one way this plays out.
If we know we're getting 100+mil for him we can easily invest 150-200 in the winter.
@

We don't need the money, we need the players. Investing is what you have to do. A club the size or United should be bringing through oung players but only if good enough. But we must also invest in quality across our team. And the likes of Wan-Bissaka will and has increased in value, so it is not money flushed down the drain.

The problem has been we have been inept in getting the right players in historically and are paying the price
 

Nickelodeon

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Two points away from the RELEGATION spots with Prem title throne pretenders and European champions next.

In the last 15 games we have managed a meagre 14 points with only Southampton (13), Brighton (12) and Watford (10) with fewer points out of the 14 clubs who have been in the Prem thoughout that period.[/QUOTE]
Two of them have changed managers. Says more about us than them to be perfectly honest.
 

momo83

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Another farcical, disgraceful, incompetently handled transfer window, which will result in another statement about pulling in a director of football, that won't happen.

I mean what club knowing Lukaku is going waits till the day before the window closes to get a replacement. You think that's bull?

Well Lyon has confirmed that we tried to get Moussa Dembele... and Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has trolled the club saying: “It is not a question of money, it is a question of ambition.“

“Moussa Dembele will not leave,” he said.

Defenders were needed, but they won't make the difference at the top half of the table. Right now we are fighting Everton and Wolves for sixth place. We have NO chance of top four.

The fact we think our midfield is good enough shows that there is something dreadfully wrong within our club.

But surely the club knows our midfield is not good enough, hence the last minute dalliance with Eriksen.

Meanwhile the midfielder-rich Spurs bring in not one but two central midfielders of quality.

It has been said many times before, but I don't think I am alone in thinking that enough is enough.

Woodward out. Glazers out.
Virgil at Pool, and Pep signings at City have been predominantly Full Backs and CB.
 

Sandikan

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Yep, that is a distinct possibility, that we need to ship out before adding to the squad, but I still think we need two midfield players and a striker, and they all could be short term fixes, say 18 months, just to get a stability into the team. I advocated Arnoutevic last season as a short term striker option, (2 year contract) but was shot down in flames, but I see he is still scoring goals for Shanghai.
Shanghai!
Ever so slightly weaker league!
 

KirkDuyt

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Big Sam Allardyce is now saying to Talksport that United might face a relegation battle :lol:

And I thought the state of our media was shite.