Not having an elite player in one position of the field is no excuse for the way we’ve been performing. We’ve more than enough in this squad to be so much better.
Ole is unhappy that we haven't bought a CM
- Thread starter devilish
- Start date
Fair, I was just responding to the post re Ole not deciding player prices. I personally want more younger signings in their early twenties - I don't like the direction we've taken (which seems to happen under every manager) where you start out going for young hungry players and then just give up. Our last window was Ronaldo (36), Varane (28), Sancho (21) & then Cavani (34), VdB (24), Telles (28)...VdB doesn't play so the only younger signing is a £73m Sancho who looks lost in our system.
This genuinely made me
This was the season the hype started: Tactical Analysis: Ajax's midfield sensation Donny van de Beek (totalfootballanalysis.com)
I'm not disputing that VDB is better in a more offensive position.
Bruno Fernandes biggest strength IMO is his ability to make key passes and break lines. His defensive work rate is also excellent and I think he would be very good in a box-to-box type role in front of a proper defensive midfielder in a 4-3-3.
Like any good 'offensive' midfielder he also has a goal in him, which doesn't make him a goalscorer but is nice to have.
You might me right about Sancho. Still I think Rashford is better on the left and Sancho is better winger than Greenwood and he should play on the right. I can be wrong, but I would like to see.
About Fred - pairing with Matic haven’t been very good, true. But he needs to play higher so we can get best out of him - pressing and harrashing opponents early.
Pogba - Matic - Bruno is too unbalanced
I think one of Bruno or Pogba has to sit out.
I'm not sure even Pogba knows his best position as he has been playing all over the midfield including left wing.
As for Donny - he's #8 from what I've seen of him at Ajax and what is IMO his best position, not AM. He played as #6 numerous times and as far as I can remember even in the EL final against us when he was subbed on from the bench.
Regardless, doesn't make sense to buy him as a #10 when you currently have 2 #10s that are better than him and then also Mata on extended contract. It's either not buy him or we bought him to play in numerous positions and mainly not as #10.
Either way the CM problem is entirely down to Ole so no excuses there. When you spent half a billion and you have 3.5 years already on helm, there's absolutely no chance you can cry wolf you don't have a certain position filled.
When you can't get a Rolls Royce you either buy a Toyota or walk - either way it's your decision.
Who did OGS actually want? It's o.k him moaning but if he's going after unrealistic targets like Rice and Bellingham that's difficult for club to pull off considering who else you signed this summer.
Does seem he's consulted the Mourinho manifesto of how to deflect blame in last few months of reign before being sacked and is using this to save his image a bit.
Does seem he's consulted the Mourinho manifesto of how to deflect blame in last few months of reign before being sacked and is using this to save his image a bit.
Dortmund bought Hummels (better than Magure) for 33 million pounds, City bought Dias (better than Maguire) for 60m. So, here are two CBs who cost less than him and who are both better.
80m in Maguire is uninspiring at best, 50m in AWB is lunacity, 15m in Telles is probably ok (backup). 45m or so in Varane is great, no doubt there. However, I wouldn't call the entire defensive recruiment brilliant in any shape or form.
Why five senior players and three talented kids (Diallo, Pellestri and Elanga) are not enough for two positions?
The only excellent signings Ole has done are Bruno and Varane (the second one was obvious). Ronaldo will be too if Ole knows how to play him. The others have all massive question marks (overpriced Maguire), has no clue what to do with him (VDB), no clue what to do with him and probably not needed (Sancho), bd player (AWB). Oh well, Cavani is a decent backup and Telles is an okay one.
There weren't enough Ole bashing threads, so you had to go and create another one? Oh well, that's the United forum these days I guess.
And Ole is right for what it's worth. We should have signed a midfielder in the summer, and I'm sure he would have made it happen if he had more direct control in transfer negotiations, rather than being just another member of the transfer committee.
And Ole is right for what it's worth. We should have signed a midfielder in the summer, and I'm sure he would have made it happen if he had more direct control in transfer negotiations, rather than being just another member of the transfer committee.
So the cafe is now pretending it didn't want Sancho?
Few small dodgy spells? The guy makes at least 1 big mistake per game. He's also painfully slow which meant that once we bought him up we had no choice but to bring in a top quality pacey CB to do the running and the thinking for him. I lost count of how many Serie A fans I know who had taken the mick out of us for spending 80m on such an average CB. As said we spent 120m on 2 CBs and yet we still depend on McFred in midfield. That 7 defensive minded players out of 11.
Also what's the point of producing and buying top young talent if we keep on handling contracts to the likes of Mata and Jesse while buying the likes of Sancho? We keep talking about the United way and yet Ole's solution to every problem is to throw money at it.
Ole doesn't decide which players are signed and which are not. His only input in proceedings is to discuss his preferred targets with the transfer committee. Ditto for Jose.
He said didn't need, not didn't want
Pogba shouldn't be starting any games whilst his contract is running out, same with Lingard. They should have been sold before reaching this point.
They're both obviously vying for a big bosman move, especially Pogba.
The caf wanted Sancho to play on the right. If he doesn't play on the right, it's pointless.
I know Greenwood is playing well, but Sancho needs time to find his feet on the right too and create a connection with AWB. I pray that is going to happen now that Rashford is back.
Seems so. The main difference is that Mourinho had an image (albeit a flawed one) and he was always going to get second-tier jobs. Ole on the other hand, doesn't have much, so I think this is him more being frustrated and desperate, rather than really deflecting blame so he can get something in the future.
In modern football the coach will identify what players he wants moving on and what areas of the pitch need strengthening - then the DoF goes and does the business. O
Non of us have the slightest clue what discussions Ole and the club had about the comings and goings, or how the decisions are made.
Fans wanted Sancho as they wanted every single top player there was/is around. Its up to the manager to prioritize his targets. Problems aren't always solved by opening the cheque book else Ole would have remained at Molde while we would have been busy winning trophies with the likes of Batistuta or Vieri upfront.
Pathetic from Ole if true. Do we need a midfielder? Of course. But to say that is the reason we have no idea how to play football and win games is a joke. The guy has had 3 years and implemented nothing except good vibes for a bit
All teams are lacking in parts but they make up for it but everyone having a clear idea of their job and what needs to be done. Our players seem to just be told to just hope for the best
All teams are lacking in parts but they make up for it but everyone having a clear idea of their job and what needs to be done. Our players seem to just be told to just hope for the best
So what does OGS actually do? Genuine question. He doesn't coach - because that's someone else's fault, but that was okay because he was overhauling the squad. But now his input in the signings we are making is also minimal?
What are we paying him to do?
I’m sure he would but it comes back to the same thing - Klopp didn’t get the players he wanted, nor Pep. But they still get a tune out of the players they have.
Plus it’s a bit like when Jose was moaning he didn’t get a CB and that’s why we weren’t challenging. The board bought him Bailly and Lindelof in successive summers, and he didn’t play them. If you were putting the money up would you be pleased? It’s a similar thing with Van De Beek - the board got him a midfielder the year before and he barely plays.
Plus it’s a bit like when Jose was moaning he didn’t get a CB and that’s why we weren’t challenging. The board bought him Bailly and Lindelof in successive summers, and he didn’t play them. If you were putting the money up would you be pleased? It’s a similar thing with Van De Beek - the board got him a midfielder the year before and he barely plays.
Hummels only wanted to go to Bayern. Dias was a punt by City which paid off. Is Hummels actually better than Maguire? Unconvinced. Dias is quality though, agreed.
I'm pretty sure if I went through your posts i'd find several examples of saying Martial/Lingard aren;t good enough and need selling (which they do). Neither are good enough or consistent enough goal scorers/creative outputs, we're basically left with Rashford/Greenwood and an unorthodox Pogba, who is creative but never scores. Therefore, no not enough. Sancho was 100% required in my opinion. An injury to Rashford/Greenwood and we'd be in serious trouble without Sancho.
So then his recruitment is very good, if in your book there are very few duds, most Managers have a pretty small hit rate when it comes to quality players. Just look at Peps record, he's signed a bucket ton of defensive players at City and the majority have been utter trash.
Sancho was clearly needed and Greenwood was going to play upfront. That was clearly the plan, but then the club decided to bring Ronaldo back...
How is he going to feel next summer when he’s to replace Matic and Pogba as well?
So the club spent £400M+ on players across 3 transfer windows, except for midfield, where they refused to buy him any player he wanted? Seems legit.
Guys, "Raumdeuter" is not an actual term for a position. It's a joke, a pun, Müller made when he was asked to describe himself (and you know Müller loves his bad puns) and it's a play on "Traumdeuter", 'dream interpreter' as in Freud.
Surely you wouldn't consider Müller and Van de Beek as particularly similar players?
Surely you wouldn't consider Müller and Van de Beek as particularly similar players?
And the "I'm not a midfielder" Donny too, most probably..
With the glazers Its Real Madrid lite but lacking in any real ambition strategy or vision. Sancho should hopefully be good player for years to come but the Ronaldo, and Varane to a lesser extent, were a gamble that’s upset the team balance and for me they were obviously not the right transfers for a team in transition. We should have went younger, more aggressive and talented. We should have just picked up 2 winners with it all to prove coming into their prime.
If you want to beat Real Madrid then you either need to find an angle or you keep 24 year old Ronaldo or go out and get Haaland and Mbappe. Stop signing players on their farewell tour and acting like we are a top club based purely on the money we’ve spent. It’s the same waste principle as those horrible massive contracts we give everyone. We are like Reals annoying little brother. Spending elite money without any vision or system is never going to get us anywhere when there are other clubs players can go to that still spend more than us and offer much greater chance of success.
Of course big players in their prime are going to go to a club that’ll offer them a million a week and guaranteed leagues and then they are more than happily to come here when Real are done with them.
If spending money is your only plan then at least spend it well. City traditionally haven’t gone head to head with Real and PSG or even us for the bigger transfers and wages. They’ve found a system instead and brought in players based on that. If a player doesn’t work they take the loss and move on. It’s one or the other. If money is no object then by all means, it might all magically click one day but in the meantime we clearly need a better plan than hoarding transfers who just haven’t worked out in our non existent system and adding players Real don’t need anymore. Find a fresh angle.
Well it depends
If you take the ridiculous fees we paid for them then both AWB and Maguire were duds. You don't spend 130m only to end up depending on Varane to nanny them. James was half decent for 15m. VDB, Diallo and Pellistri weren't given a chance. I wonder why the feck we bought them in the first place. Telles can't defend. Varane and Ronaldo will do well, there again we're talking about two top quality players here while Heaton seem to be on an expensive side for a cheer leader.
Oh Jesus fecking Christ
I'd tell you to go wash your mouth out with soap, but I'm in your house
We needed a DM more then we needed Sancho. Yet Ole thought that McFred + Matic (whom we recently renewed his contract) could do the job. That was Ole's gamble and it backfired spectacularly.
Remember the geese is unhappy that Ole is our manager. Two can play this game.
That's clearly not what I said.
The Manager will have discussions on areas that need strengthening, and ideal targets and then the club go and see who's available and make the deals.
It's well known that this is how modern football works. Liverpool's transfer committee etc. United now have a similar model in place.
The days of a Ferguson running everything is long gone.
I read that as Fred
Oh Jesus fecking Christ
I'd tell you to go wash your mouth out with soap, but I'm in your house
British talent is ridiculously rated in their own country. Which is why England fans tend to end up shocked when the likes of Italy schools them at Wembley despite them having the Hurricane, the Yorkshire Pirlo and the most expensive CB in football on the pitch.
Why are either Maguire/AWB considered duds in the first place? AWB's still young and improving with each season, he might not be the most effective going forward for a modern fullback but he does his defensive work on the whole well. I wouldn't consider him a dud at all. Duds are players that are clearly not good enough and get sold after a season or two. Neither Maguire or AWB fit in that bracket. They were overpriced, we all knew that at that time but they're hardly terrible players.
AWB for example has been one of our better players this season. While Maguire was in brilliant form last season (after the initial dodgy opener following his Greece... issues.).
Personally I feel Maguire and Shaw are having post Euro hangovers. As both went into the Euros in excellent form and came back to us deflated and in poor form. I actually think if you look at the England squad as a whole, that fits for the majority of the players that were part of the squad, but thats for a different thread. (feck Southgate).
I very much doubt that it was presented to Ole as an either or scenario.
So when our new signings do well then its all thanks to Ole but when they do shit its the committee's fault? Also what does Ole do exactly? Our tactics are crap and our coaching is shit
Hummels went to BVB. And yes, he is better than Maguire (but then, except the second half of last season, I think that Lindelof has been better than Maguire).
Lingard is not, Martial should be good enough but dunno what happened in the last season and this one. Nevertheless, if they were not good enough why Martial got a new contract, and why Ole returned Lingard and offered him a new contract. Why Ole is hoarding players that are not good enough?
For the money spent, I think it has been ok. The squad has been improved quite a lot after over 400m spent and two free transfers in expensive wages. I would not sat brilliant though. Brilliant is what Klopp did with Liverpool, when he signed awesome players that did not cost much. And when he spent a lot (like VVD) it was absolute quality, not just an upgrade on what he had.
Well, whose fault is that, Ole? The mailman's?
They are duds for the price we've paid for them. The fact that you're describing a 130m worth of investment as hardly terrible players kind of support what I am saying.