Sign players that suit the way he says he wants to play? Like another poster said, you can't say you want to build from the back and then go on to pay £50m for Wan Bissaka.
Ole and the club recruitment policy
- Thread starter reelworld
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As it stands I think this current United squad is the most un-balanced it’s been post SAF.
The addition of VdB just highlights this.
We’ve no wingers yet set up with me. Out wide.
We have too many CM who don’t want to play deep or are suited to playing deep, yet continue to set up this way.
We play with one forward but don’t have the players to supply him adequately.
It’s a fecking shambles.
We may have got rid of bad apples who don’t want to be here but look at the cost.
Coupled with a club who are totally useless at getting rid of players due to paying them extortionate amounts....we are a laughing stock.
The addition of VdB just highlights this.
We’ve no wingers yet set up with me. Out wide.
We have too many CM who don’t want to play deep or are suited to playing deep, yet continue to set up this way.
We play with one forward but don’t have the players to supply him adequately.
It’s a fecking shambles.
We may have got rid of bad apples who don’t want to be here but look at the cost.
Coupled with a club who are totally useless at getting rid of players due to paying them extortionate amounts....we are a laughing stock.
So Pogba’s diabolical performance yesterday was McTominay’s fault? The defence of Pogba is always to blame the players around him. Pogba gave the ball away so many times yesterday. He was that bad Ole subbed him off for once. Pogba is meant to be our talisman, a De Bruyne player in quality. He simply isn’t up to that at all.
But a Matic replacement would have been a lot better than VdB.
Well that £75m is looking like a bargain with each passing season accompanied by a major trophy for them whilst we need to spend another outrageous figure to find a complimentary partner (read as someone to cover Maguire's weaknesses) for one we shelled out a record breaking fee for.
If we stuck at 3rd or 4th then yes blame the board for not spending enough.
Losing to cp on our first home game playing crap is not on them.
Losing to cp on our first home game playing crap is not on them.
This thread was ruined from its very first reply.
No it was a diabolical performance that had nothing to do with a midfield two, it was just a bad game from a footballer. And McTominay was as diabolical, as were pretty much everyone else which doesn't mean that McTominay can't play in midfield two or that Bruno can't play in a 4231.
Another issue with defence is who is actually get able and would improve our defence? At centre half I can only think of Upamecano. Koulibaly is touching 30, everyone else I’ve seen us linked with wouldn’t improve us to the standards we want. Do we try and strike a pre contract with Leipzig and Upamecano?
I can see Lindelof being dislodged by Axel very quickly once he is fit.
i genuinely think Oles recruitment has been good. AWB was very good last year, yes he can improve going forward but I don’t think you’ll see many complaints about him. Maguire has been an upgrade on what he have and crucially, unlike our other centre halves -doesn’t miss 25 games a season. Fernandes speaks for himself, Van de Beek looks a good acquisition at his price, James has been hit and miss but probably what you’d expect from a championship player.
We need to upgrade Lindelof. He’s bullied too often
We need a left back whose going to be fit!
we need a right winger...
Pressure rises on Woodward this week as all of our rivals are clearly strengthening meaning we’re in that cycle, yet again, of falling down the pecking order similar to Jose’s last season!
I can see Lindelof being dislodged by Axel very quickly once he is fit.
i genuinely think Oles recruitment has been good. AWB was very good last year, yes he can improve going forward but I don’t think you’ll see many complaints about him. Maguire has been an upgrade on what he have and crucially, unlike our other centre halves -doesn’t miss 25 games a season. Fernandes speaks for himself, Van de Beek looks a good acquisition at his price, James has been hit and miss but probably what you’d expect from a championship player.
We need to upgrade Lindelof. He’s bullied too often
We need a left back whose going to be fit!
we need a right winger...
Pressure rises on Woodward this week as all of our rivals are clearly strengthening meaning we’re in that cycle, yet again, of falling down the pecking order similar to Jose’s last season!
At 80 million, he should be the best defender on the planet. Hes not even close. His impact has been minimal. Didnt want him when Jose was after him either. One of our worst post Saf signings.
Agree with this, this shambles started when Mourinho chose Matic ahead of Fabinho in 2017. I think a Fabinho type of player would complement Pogba brilliantly and result in a more balanced midfield.
I think Matic is very good defensively but lacks the required mobility to play alongside a player like Pogba in a midfield two particularly with a trainwreck like Lindelof behind them.
In my view we should have targeted a Matic understudy first, it was clear from the get go that Fred and McTominay are not suitable for the role. A CB and a DM were more important than Sancho imo because I think we can afford another season with a makeshift RW but going into the season expecting 50 starts each from Matic and Lindelof is going to hurt us more.
I couldn't be arsed to look it up, but my guess is none. But I'm saying building a great defense with less money is possible. We've done it too under Fergie.
When fit Matic is still pretty good but we seemingly can't overuse him and need to manage his fitness, his positioning and moblity are perfectly fine when he is at his physical peak during a season.
It’s not really possible anymore. That’s the issue.
Sanchez,
Lindelof,
Bailly,
Dalot,
Di Maria,
Schweinstiger,
Schniderlin,
Darmian
Maguire would be in our top five ffs.
but as of now, we don't have one. And we spent a whole season playing without one.
Also, Mason Greenwood would be absolutely devastating with an attacking fullback behind him.
This reads like a dig at the club.
Which is why I said you can't expect 50 plus starts from him and given the alternatives we have it's what we are going to have to do. It's not a quality issue but it's about durability and the level of help he can expect from a player like Pogba off the ball.
Him and Pogba aren't a good fit at all without the ball and we will be susceptible to getting overrun in midfield. His positioning is fine but his mobility when paired with Pogba is not especially against the top six.
if your 80 million defender still needs another 50-60 million defender to function properly, then that 80 million is way too high.
Right on, we overpaid by around £30m or more.
The difference is that Liverpool knows what they want from their defenders and bought accordingly. That's why 146 million is enough to build their defence.
United at the other hand seems doesn't have a clue.
Why keep Lindelof AND play him with Maguire when everyone can see that it's not good enough?
Lindelof wouldn’t be good enough with anyone next to him.
Suspect it was simply that they heard VDB was available and they jumped in with both feet but not their brains. Think Donny will become a fan favourite but he was not needed as urgently as a DM, CB or especially that dreaded RW. Also it appeased the fans as we hadn't signed anyone, so took their attention away from bigger issues.
But Liverpool can. And I think their methods can be duplicated. It will not be exactly the same, but applicable nonetheless.
So now Maguire isn't good enough. Where were you before we bought him for £80m? Struck down with muteness?
Same question to all the Maguire critics.
Right - let’s get one of the best ever young defenders coming through our ranks and also sign the best CB in the world.
then don't play him or sold him once you have Maguire
This actually has had me pulling my hair out for over a year now. I can't understand why he bought either player when he wanted to play a high press which he successfully implemented at Molde.
The other players he has are Rojo, Jones and Smalling.
It feels that way doesn't it? For a minute I imagined that Ole may try a flat 4312 because we basically have 4 B2B in Fred, Pogba, Van De Beek and McTominay and then Matic as the one midfielder that is actually more defensive than anything else. For me if we had a 4231 positional depth chart Pogba would have 3 backups and Matic none, which is a bit baffling.
We've come full circle. Why don't we use those 80 million to sign that?
Let me ask you this:
Do you think 209 million isn't enough to build a world class defense?
Reminds me of the kid at school who had the latest and expensive football boots, never made him any better than those who are talented. Give Ole the best players, still need talent to get the best out of them. Ole hasn't demonstrated he has the talent to make the team better through coaching where he clearly has in creating a less toxic atmosphere. The decision he has made in doing so are easier as it's not the ones that really counted. Maybe Pogs and DDG should have been sold?
We have a massive squad with loads of players for a couple of positions and absolutely no backup for others. It is disastrous planning. They throw contract renewals around like confetti for assets that are worthless. If those players wanted big pay rises tell them to find other clubs, not make them a millstone round our necks. Trouble is it is easier to renew the contracts than actually negotiate a transfer for new players.
It just shows that the club didn't do its homework on that signing, kind of strange when Maguire/Koulibaly or bust. Just like this season with the Sancho or bust strategy when we could have plugged other holes in the side the moment we found Dortmund's demands unpalatable.
Only if you know what you are doing. You don't spend 80m on a CB, to then the following season have to spend another 60m to cover up his failings? Why would any owners agree to that even these feckers? We have a graveyard of CB's and people want Lindelof to be thrown on that pile too. Watch Harry will be next....
The ones banking on Axel Tuanzebe. According to transfer market he has missed 257 days through injury and 52 games. That is in a short career. I would not be banking on him for anything.
More than enough.
Do I think what Ole has spent was enough? No. Not with what he inherited.
It seems to be the logic driving decisions at United but when you really look at it you'd see the fallacy of such reasoning. We have handed out contract renewals to Rojo, Smalling and Jones but still shelled out £120m on Maguire and Lindelof with Tuanzebe also overtaking them.
They should have just got rid of Rojo and Smalling for whatever they could get. Jones should have been got rid of in the small window he was fit. Unfortunately I think Tuanzebe will be another one who is injured more than he is fit.
I think some of the renewals were designed by the need to ensure that these players didn't leave for free. I also remember the Glazers vetoing a reported £25m move for Rojo to Everton last season, good luck getting 10% of that now with his stock at an all time low.